DIIP Monthly Update – May 2017
This update provides a snapshot of the activities of the Development, Innovation and Intellectual Property Programme during the month of May 2017.
Innovation
Research Paper 77, May 2017
Access to Hepatitis C Treatment: A Global Problem
“Viral hepatitis is an international public health challenge, comparable to other major communicable diseases, including HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Despite the significant burden it places on communities across all global regions, hepatitis has been largely ignored as a health and development priority until recently”. – WHO, Global Health Sector strategy on viral Hepatitis 2016-2021: Towards ending viral hepatitis
Research Paper 75, March 2017
Implementing Farmers’ Rights Relating to Seeds
The concept of Farmers’ Rights recognized the role of farmers as custodians of biodiversity and helped to draw attention to the need to preserve practices that are essential for sustainable agriculture. This paper examines one particular aspect of such rights, perhaps the most controversial. It deals with the component of farmers’ rights referring to the use, exchange and sale of farm-saved seeds. Although that concept was initially introduced in 1989 with the aim of balancing the rights of farmers as breeders and of commercial plant breeders, a specific reference to the rights relating to seeds was only introduced upon the conclusion of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in 2001.
Policy Brief 39, May 2017
Highlights of the WHO Executive Board: 140th Session
The World Health Assembly (WHA), the highest body of the World Health Organization, will be meeting from 22-31 May 2017.
Earlier in January, the Executive Board of the WHO met and discussed on various strategic issues that will be carried forward to the WHA.
In this light, the South Centre has prepared a timely summary report in the form of a policy brief of the discussions that took place at the EB, to assist delegates and other stakeholders in their preparation for the discussions in the WHA.
Analytical Note, March 2017
The TRIPS and WTO Negotiations: Stakes for Africa
This paper discusses the current negotiation issues in the context of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the position the African Group has taken in these negotiations. (more…)
Research Paper 74, February 2017
Mitigating the Regulatory Constraints Imposed by Intellectual Property Rules under Free Trade Agreements
IP provisions in FTAs may have implications on a wide range of public policy areas. A vast academic literature has addressed the “flexibilities” available under the TRIPS Agreement and the negative impact of FTAs in relation to access to medicines. (more…)
SC Side Event to the TRIPS Council, 1 March 2017
Title: The United Nations Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicines: Opportunities to Advance Health Technology Innovation and Access
Date: 1 March 2017, 13:00-15:00
Venue: Room S1, WTO Building, Centre William Rappard, Rue de Lausanne 154, Geneva
Organizers: Bangladesh, Brazil, India, South Africa, the Secretariat of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicines, the South Centre
South Centre Conference, 13 February 2017
Title: Briefing for Developing Countries on Global Trends and Linkages to Geneva Multilateral
Processes
Date: Monday, 13 February 2017, 9:30-13:00
Venue: Room XXIV, Palais des Nations
Organizer: The South Centre
Press release, 3 February 2017
Growing Coalition to Intensify Efforts to Address Global Antimicrobial Resistance
The South Centre supports increased global and national level advocacy for policy change and action to prevent the post-antibiotic era from becoming a bleak reality. This effort is being strengthened with the recent addition of five leading environmental and public health organizations to the Antibiotic Resistance Coalition (ARC). The ARC is an independent coalition of members from six continents working in health, agriculture, consumer, and development sectors. (more…)
Statement, December 2016
South Centre Statement to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board
The following is the statement delivered by the South Centre to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board on 7 December 2016 in Geneva .
Policy Brief 33, December 2016
Outcome of the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization 2016
The fifty-sixth series of meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) were held on 3-11 October 2016. They concluded with no agreement among member States on key issues, such as whether to convene a Diplomatic Conference for adoption of the Design Law Treaty (DLT) and the establishment of new WIPO External Offices for the 2016/17 biennium. (more…)
Statement, October 2016
South Centre Statement to the WIPO Assemblies 2016
The statement highlights that the greatest challenge for developing countries and LDCs in the area of intellectual property (IP) is the proliferation of regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements that impose IP obligations, together with the coercive external political and economic pressure to restrain from making use of the flexibilities in the IP system.