Month: May 2010

The upcoming WTO Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Council) meets on 8-9 June 2010 (next Tuesday and Wednesday); Martin Glass (Hong Kong) is the current chair of the TRIPS Council. Access to attend WTO TRIPS Council meetings is only granted to WTO Members and organizations with observer status to the TRIPS Council (such as the World Health Organization); consequently, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are not permitted to observe the proceedings of the TRIPS Council. Continue Reading →

Open-ended consultations on copyright limitations and exceptions for persons with print disabilities
Geneva, May 27, 2010

Mr. Chairman,

Yesterday, during the first round of the consultations, Brazil recalled the reasons why there is an urgent need for a treaty on Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons. As civil society representatives were not present yesterday, I will recall some of the main points Brazil holds dear in these discussions.

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On 19 May 2010, Global Health Progress (GHP) and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) hosted a luncheon at the Vieux Bois in Geneva on the margins of the 63rd World Health Assembly for a targeted audience of over 90 persons including Ministers of Health, Ambassadors and senior officials from the Africa. Continue Reading →

I was recently asked the following question:

Jamie
What is your view on the treatment of prize funds? By all standards it is treated as a radical off the wall proposal when in fact it is market based. Why is there so much resistance?

My response was as follows:

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The World Health Assembly (WHA) has just adopted a new resolution on the “Establishment of a Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Finance and Coordination.” The resolution is just over 4 pages. It represents a dramatic response to the earlier WHO Expert Working Group (EWG), by

1. calling for a more member state driven role in establishing the membership of the group,
2. focusing extensively by the need to deepen the analysis,

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Dr. Mary Moran was a member of the WHO Expert Working Group on R&D financing. According to one WHO official, she was also hired by the World Health Organization to write key sections of the report, managed the selection criteria, ended up giving her own proposal the highest rating, and was asked by the WHO to address the May 13th consultations with WHO member states. Yesterday Dr. Moran approached me in part to ask that she not be identified as an employee of the George Institute. Continue Reading →

Moving beyond the EWG: Charting a new path for WHO to promote innovation AND access to medicines

Non-governmental organization perspectives on de-linkage, prizes and the R+D Treaty

Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Location: Salle XXV, Palais des Nations
Time: 13:00 to 14:30

I+A: Innovation+Access Continue Reading →

Last evening the Global Health Council (GHC) and the Global Health Forum (GHF) co-hosted an event on funding R&D for neglected diseases. The event was one of several hosted by the GHC at the posh Intercontinental Hotel.

A “proposal” for PDP funding was presented by Novartis, IAVI and Mary Moran. Called PDP+, it was an attempt to “merge” three different proposals that were endorsed by the WHO Expert Working Group (EWG).

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