[afro-nets] 100 nations debate: Right to Health or Right to Wealth? IGWG Geneva meeting report

["Garance Upham" <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

100 nations debate: Right to Health or Right to Wealth? IGWG Geneva meeting report
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Nations debate: RIGHT TO HEALTH OR RIGHT TO WEALTH?

The Summary:

The Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IGWG) met in Geneva the week of December 4-8, about a 100 Member States attended. The convening of the group came as a result of a mandate given by the World Health Assembly, the sovereign decision body for world health policy, in resolution 59.24, in which developing countries led by Brazil and Kenya demanded that WHO examine new ways to guaranty access to health for poor people. The Commission on Intellectual Property, innovation and IP (CIPIH report) which was supposed to review these issues just published its findings.

In the course of the IGWG meeting, the majority of the countries in the world stated that present day global patent system of intellectual property rights, - the implementation of the TRIPS agreement of WTO â?? is incompatible with the superior Right to Health of populations.
-  Flexibilities embodied in the TRIPS agreement itself, and then 
furthered in the Doha Ministerial agreement of the Trade Ministers agreement of 2001, are insufficient, and generally LMIC countries are prevented from having recourse to these flexibilities. Rich countries, notably the United States, are notorious for imposing TRIPS +, or TRIPS ++, meaning stricter obedience to patent property rights than even the original TRIPS of the World Trade Organization proposed.
­ Developing countries argue with evidence that the pharmaceutical corporations are cheating (ever greening of patents, refusal to give access to data to allow for generic production when patents expire, etc.) , and that rich countries behavior, notably that of the US government, which is imposing TRIPS ++ in bilateral trade agreements, is supportive of WTO trade agreements to enrich corporations, and stalling on demands to look at new ways to foster innovation, share knowledge, and support public health.
­ The system of patents whereby today 97% of patents are owned by corporations in rich countries, is conducing to large accumulation of wealth by monopolies (such as Microsoft), but has failed to prove that it is a system favoring innovation.
­ Alternative systems including pooling of patents and the proposal for a global R&D Treaty (initially put forth by the NGO specialized in IP: CPTECH, that would do away with the present patent system altogether, is gaining support.

In conclusion, the majority of the member States of World Health Assembly: Brazil, Thailand, India, Iran, Kenya, (the later three respectively speaking for the SEARO, EMRO and AFRO regions Member States are allied in proposing to seek alternative systems to favor R&D and the sharing of knowledge by all of humanity, as most urgent today.
Only alternative mechanisms will allow for research to go into neglected diseases research, will favor innovation and guaranty ACCESS to medicines and other essential goods for the populations of the world.

The objectives of public health are stated as incompatible with the TRIPS agreement of the WTO. The World Health Organization (WHO) is mandated by the World Health Assembly to examine the situation created by TRIPS/WTO as regards public health, and to come up with alternatives to safeguard the right to health.

Of Sparrows and Eagles: when the majority of countries challenge the patent system as incompatible with the Right to Health. (REPORT CONTINUES WITH MEMBER STATES INTERVENTIONS AND NGO INPUTS.  
DOCUMENT AVAILABLE FROM GARANCE UPHAM)

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Garance Upham 
mailto:g_upham@club-internet.fr