1 March 2017 – WTO TRIPS Council – Brazil’s intervention on the Report of the UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines
On 1 March 2017, Brazil delivered the following statement during WTO TRIPS Council discussions on the Report of the United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines.
High Level PanelAs we all know, on 19 November 2015, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced the creation of the High-Level Panel on Innovation and Access to Health Technologies. Responding to this invitation, two chairs were designated to the panel, namely, Ms. Ruth Dreifuss, from Switzerland, and Festus Mogae, from Botswana.
Ambassador Shameem Ahsan (Bangladesh) remarks on UN HLP – Opportunities to Advance Health Technology and Access
On 1 March 2017, Bangladesh, Brazil, India and South Africa, the Secretariat of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines and the South Centre convened a side event at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the United Nations Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicines: Opportunities to Advance Health Technology and Access. This event took place on the margins of the WTO TRIPS Council.
CDC FOIA shows US, WHO opposed request to discuss UNSG’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines Report at EB
Email records and memoranda released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in response to a Knowledge Ecology International Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request show that representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States government opposed including India’s proposed agenda item on the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines for discussion at the 140th WHO Executive Board meeting.
The full set of documents, which was released to KEI without redaction, are available here:
MEP Lola Sánchez questions the European Commission: EU’s position on the UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines at WIPO
On 2 February 2017, MEP Lola Sánchez Caldentey (Podemos, Spain) tabled a series of written questions to the European Commission on the positions taken by the European Union at the World Intellectual Property Organization on 14 December 2016 in relation to the United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines (UN HLP)
Chilean Cámara de Diputados votes overwhelmingly to advance compulsory licensing of drug patents.
The Cámara de Diputados of the Chilean Congress voted on January 25, 2017 in favor of Resolution 798, calling on the government to implement compulsory licenses on drugs for cancer and other diseases. The vote was 67 yes, 0 no, and 32 abstentions. The resolution was put forward by Giorgio Jackson and six other members (V. Mirosevic, Miguel Alvarado, Karla Rubilar, Juan Luis Castro, Gabriel Boric, and Victor Torres). Continue Reading
EB140: Statement of India on the Report of the United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines
On the morning of Monday, 23 January 2017, India delivered the following intervention at the 140th session of the World Health Organization’s Executive Board requesting the “explicit inclusion” of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel Report in the “provisional agenda of the EB140 as a separate agenda item under item 8.”
In making the case for the inclusion of the UN HLP in the WHO’s Executive Board deliberations, India articulate the following:
SCP25: Closing Statement of the Republic of South Africa
On Thursday, 15 December 2016, South Africa delivered this poignant, closing statement at WIPO’s Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP). Negotiations broke down on the issue of future work, as the European Union and Group B refused to permit discussions of the Report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines at future sessions of the SCP.
According to the WIPO website,
PCB39: Address of Justice Michael Kirby – HIV/AIDS & Solidarity – 30 Years On
On 7 December 2016, Justice Michael Kirby delivered the following keynote speech at the 39th Meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board during discussions on intellectual property and access to medicines. Justice Kirby served as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines.
UNAIDS
PROGRAMME COORDINATING BOARD
39TH MEETING, WHO, GENEVA
AGENDA ITEM 6, 7 DECEMBER 2016HIV/AIDS & SOLIDARITY – 30 YEARS ON*
Michael Kirby**
SCP25: Statement of Asia Pacific Group on Patents and Health
On Tuesday, 13 December 2016, India delivered the following statement on behalf of the Asia and the Pacific Group during WIPO discussions on patents and health.
Statement by India on behalf of the Asia and the Pacific Group on the Agenda Item – Patents and Health – delivered by Dr. Sumit Seth, First Secretary (Economic Affairs) on 13 December 2016Madam Chair,
India has the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Asia Pacific Group. The group would like to make 3 concrete points related to this agenda item
SCP 25: Opening statement of Knowledge Ecology International
On Monday, 12 December 2016, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered its opening statement to the 25th session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP).
KEI Opening Statement, for SCP 25
12 December 2016KEI will discuss two topics. The first concerns government rights in patented inventions, when the government funds or partly funds the research.