The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Protocol on Patents: Implications for Access to Medicines
This paper was commissioned to better understand the workings of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (commonly known as “ARIPO”) with regard to its Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs and to examine the effect of implementation of the Protocol (Section on Patents) on the promotion of access to affordable medicines. (more…)
South Centre Views on US Review of Indian IPR Policy
Below is the official submission of the South Centre sent to the US Trade Representative regarding the Super 301 out of cycle review that the USTR is undertaking with regard to the IPR policy and practice of India. In this submission the South Centre has expressed concern about the pressures that the US is exerting on India to change its IPR policy and laws. (more…)
Public-private Partnerships in Global Health: Putting Business before Health?
Public and private sector interaction in health has always existed at the national level; in the United Nations (UN) system, public-private partnerships (PPPs) started at the end of the 1990s with the reform of the UN system launched by Kofi Annan. (more…)
His rivals called him a “pirate” but grateful millions whose lives were saved by his cheap generic medicines consider him a Robin Hood—Yusuf Hamied, leader of India’s giant company, Cipla.
Hacer efectivo el mecanismo financiero de la CMNUCC.
Las Partes en la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático (CMNUCC) han reconocido la necesidad de “mejorar urgentemente la aplicación de la Convención para lograr su objetivo fundamental de plena conformidad con sus principios y compromisos” (Preámbulo del Plan de Acción de Bali). (more…)
Access to Medicines and Intellectual Property: The contribution of the World Health Organization
The topic of intellectual property first appeared in the WHO in 1996 and coincided with the end of the Uruguay Round and the creation of the World Trade Organization. In 1995 the Charles III University of Madrid with the WHO Drugs Action Programme (DAP) organized a conference where Professor Carlos Correa presented a paper entitled “The Uruguay Round and Drugs”. (more…)
A resolution by the World Health Assembly: Will there finally be a cure for diseases that affect the poor?
By Carlos Correa
On 26 May 2012 the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution that could mark the first step toward a change in the current pharmaceutical research model. The members of the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to undertake an in-depth examination, at the governmental level, of a report produced in April 2012 by an international group of experts that recommended the adoption of a binding convention on research and development (R&D) that, if approved and implemented, could generate the medicines needed, particularly in developing countries, to address communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Trade and Investment Agreements—Barriers to National Public Health and Tobacco Control Measures.
An arbitral tribunal is expected to issue soon a decision on jurisdictional matters in a case brought by Philip Morris against the government of Uruguay. The claim, based on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between that country and Switzerland, challenges packaging and labeling requirements for cigarettes adopted by Uruguay to reduce tobacco’s consumption. (more…)
Rethinking The R&D Model for Pharmaceutical Products: A Binding Global Convention.
The current incentive-based model of pharmaceutical R&D has failed to make needed medicines available to a large number of people, especially those living in developing countries. This Policy Brief recognizes the urgent need of shifting from the incentive-based model of R&D to a model that effectively promotes not only innovation but more importantly access to medicines, particularly for diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries. (more…)
Rethinking Global Health: A Binding Convention for R&D for Pharmaceutical Products.
This Research Paper is a contribution to the debate and reform process of the WHO to enable it to respond to the health and health policy challenges of the twenty-first century. More specifically, this paper addresses the issue of the pharmaceutical innovation system within the perspective of access to medicines, exploring possible structural changes in the current system. (more…)
The Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health Ten Years Later: The State of Implementation.
The Declaration on the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Public Health was adopted on 14 November 2001 by the 4th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Meeting at Doha, Qatar. (more…)
Pharmaceutical Innovation, Incremental Patenting and Compulsory Licensing.
Despite the decline in the discovery of new chemical entities for pharmaceutical use, there is a significant proliferation of patents on products and processes that cover minor, incremental innovations. A study conducted in five developing countries – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, India and South Africa – evidenced a significant proliferation of ‘evergreening’ pharmaceutical patents that can block generic competition and thereby limit access to medicines. (more…)
