After at least eight rounds of negotiation, including two Geneva-based negotiations held on 12 May 2017 and 17 May 2017, the G20 Health Ministers meeting, convened in Berlin from 19-20 May 2017 issued the following declaration.
In relation to the R&D pipeline for developing new antimicrobial therapies, the G20 recognized “the importance of fostering R&D for new antimicrobials, alternative therapies, vaccines and rapid-point-of care diagnostics, in particular for priority pathogens as identified by WHO and for tuberculosis.”
2016 January: Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) begins development of a vaccine candidate for Zika virus, based on its work in developing vaccines “against other flaviviruses, such as yellow fever, dengue and Japanese encephalitis.”
On May 3, 2017, 29 civil society organizations and 33 health professionals, activists, and economists — including Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz — asked delegates to the World Health Assembly (WHA) to support a feasibility study on the progressive delinkage of the costs of research and development from the price of cancer medicines. The groups and experts sent a letter to the delegates.
This was the KEI submission to the OECD consultation on “Sustainable access to innovative therapies,” which involved four questions posed by OECD on access to medicines.
Question 1: Reflecting on the last 5-10 years, what do you think have been the major changes affecting access to medicines?
May 4, 2017 SCCR 34 Discussion on Limitations and Exceptions for people with other disabilities
If the final text of the Marrakesh Treaty had included Article 15(b) of the 1st version of the treaty negotiating text (SCCR/18/5) that would have clearly covered “other disabilities”, we would not have had the morning discussion.
Here is what had been drafted with the approval of an inclusive group of disabilities experts:
ARTICLE 15. DISABILITIES COVERED
(a) For the purposes of this Treaty, a ‘visually impaired’ person is:
SCCR 34 May 3. Chair’s proposal regarding the committee’s work on L&E and member states comments
In brief:
The Chair supports an update of the Crews Study
The Chair proposes a seminar or conference with multidisciplinary approach to L&Es in the digital environment (instead of separated “silos” such as are now L&Es for Libraries and Education
Just like since yesterday afternoon, the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights has convened in informal. Some members of delegations and NGOs are staying in the main room and are listening to the discussions but cannot participate nor report on anything that is being said.
It is frustrating of course but it looks as if it will be the “new process of negotiation” for the time being. As one person said to me “secret negotiations regarding broadcasting, cablecasting and webcasting at WIPO? what could go wrong?”
The treaty on broadcasting organizations is a high priority for the European Union and its Member States. We are strongly committed to advancing work on the various work of the previous sessions. We look forward to discussing the issues set out wherein.
We hope that further progress can be made on the basis of the revised consolidated text, on the rights to be granted and other issues that has been prepared nor this session.
The DG, Franci Gurry, started the SCCR meeting with a summary of the issues to be discussed, some old (Broadcasting treaty, Limitations and Exceptions for libraries, archives, museum and education and for people with other disabilities) some new or “exploratory” (GRULAC proposal on copyright and digital works and resale rights):
