Category WHO

Counterfeit Medicines In WTO Dispute Process, Heating Up At WHO

The international policy debate over counterfeit medicines and legitimate generics escalated today. Brazil and India took the first step in the World Trade Organization dispute settlement process for treatment of generics medicines falsely labelled counterfeit in Europe, and non-governmental organisations from both sides of the issue issued new releases stating their positions on the issues at the neighbouring World Health Organization.

New WHO Documents Show Results On IP, Innovation, Technology Transfer

Three new documents from the World Health Organization programme on intellectual property and innovation obtained by Intellectual Property Watch provide new evidence on how technology transfer is working, analyse research prioritisation at the WHO, and indicate progress on a monitoring and evaluation strategy for the programme's continued implementation, according to a preliminary reading.

Health Initiative Proposes Rewarding Innovation On Impact Results; Some See Hurdles

An alternative initiative to promote access to medicine with a method mimicking market mechanisms means to create additional incentives for health innovation, authors of the proposal said yesterday. But other health actors have reservations.

A public event was organised yesterday to discuss how the Health Impact Fund (HIF) could fit within existing structures and what challenges it could face.

Medicrime: Another Anti-Counterfeiting Convention Emerges In Europe

While the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is getting a lot of attention with its draft consolidated version just published, there is another convention dealing with one major aspect it was always said ACTA would tackle. The Medicrime Convention of the Council of Europe sets the first international standard for criminalising the manufacturing and distribution of counterfeited medicine risking public health. And Medicrime will overtake ACTA, as the draft convention text is ready to be signed by the Committee of Ministers in May and be opened for signature in November.

Committee Examines Undue Influence, Coordination In WHO Pandemic Flu Response

A review of the World Health Organization’s response to the 2009 pandemic influenza outbreak kicked off this week, with firm statements from those involved in the response that they were not unduly influenced by outside stakeholders. Still, serious questions remain about the coordination effort, as a nearly a year after the pandemic was declared developed countries find themselves having to dispose of excess vaccines while poorer countries are reporting they have yet to obtain as many as they need.