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.
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…)
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…)
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
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…)
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…)
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.
Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance: Challenges for Developing Countries
On 21 September 2016, a High Level Meeting was held on antimicrobial resistance at the sides of the United Nations General Assembly. It was followed by the adoption of a political declaration. This declaration paves the way for new coordinated actions on antimicrobial resistance backed by higher political commitment, on the basis of the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (GAP) of the World Health Organization (WHO). (more…)
Innovation and the Global Expansion of Intellectual Property Rights: Unfulfilled Promises
The incorporation of intellectual property into trade agreements has not proven to bring about the promised benefits. The premises that have underpinned the global strengthening and expansion of intellectual property through such agreements – namely that the same standards of protection are suitable for countries with different levels of development and that innovation will be boosted – do not match the reality. (more…)
The boundaries between scientific and technological knowledge are nebulous in some technical fields, such as the biological sciences and their applications. This has led to the appropriation under patents of knowledge (such as on specific genes) of scientific nature, which may not only have negative effects for the further development of science and new technological contributions, but also encroach on the fundamental right of access to science. (more…)
