Aimed at policy makers and advocates this briefing examines proposals for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Development Agenda from a human rights perspective. Drawing on the Friends of Development and Africa Group's original submissions it makes recommendations in 6 key areas.
Values, Policies and Rights
How human rights can support proposals for a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) development agenda
3-D
Research governance: ethical issues
Slowther A, Boynton P, Shaw S: J R Soc Med 2006; 99:65-72
Healthcare research is haunted by a history of unethical studies in which profound harm was caused to vulnerable individuals. Official systems for gaining ethical approval for research, designed to prevent a repetition of these shameful examples, can prove bureaucratic and inflexible in practice. The core ethical principles of respect for autonomy, prevention of harm, promotion of benefit, and justice (which form the basis of professional codes of research conduct) must be applied flexibly to take account of contextual, methodological, personal and practical considerations. Ensuring that the design and conduct of all research is ethically sound is the responsibility of all involved—including researchers, research institutions, ethics review committees and regulatory bodies.
Resolutions of the 42nd regional health minister’s conference
East, Central and Southern African (ECSA) Health Community
The 42nd Regional Health Ministers' Conference with the theme “Scaling up Best Practices in health care in East, Central and Southern Africa” took place at the Sun n Sand Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya from the 6th to the 11th of February, 2006. The conference was ttended by Health Ministers from the ECSA Region, representatives of regional and international organizations as well as developmental agencies. Resolutions were passed at the conference in twelve major areas of health in the region.
Further details: /newsletter/id/31448
South African child guage 2005
Eldis news: Jacobs M, Shung-King M, Smith C
This publication examines the links between the practical situation of children in South Africa, South Africa’s commitments to child rights, and society’s progress in this regard. The document discusses the country’s response to different aspects of the challenge of realising children’s rights, and presents a set of broad-based indicators aimed at gauging improvements in the situation of children over time. This issue focuses on children and policy; HIV and AIDS and children, and the number of children with access to social assistance and basic services.
Status of national research bioethics committees in the WHO African region
Kirigia JM, Wambebe C, Baba-Moussa A: BMC Medical Ethics 2005, 6:10
The Regional Committee for Africa of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2001 expressed concern that some health-related studies undertaken in the Region were not subjected to any form of ethics review. In 2003, the study reported in this paper was conducted to determine which Member country did not have a national research ethics committee (REC) with a view to guiding the WHO Regional Office in developing practical strategies for supporting those countries. In the current era of globalized biomedical research, good ethics stewardship demands that every country, irrespective of its level of economic development, should have in place a functional research ethics review system in order to protect the dignity, integrity and safety of its citizens who participate in research.
A global campaign for the right to health
People\'s Health Movement, South Africa
The People's Health Movement (PHM) would like to invite civil society organizations, interested individuals and groups to participate in discussing the possibility of hosting such a campaign in South Africa. It would also contribute to building civil society for the Third People’s Health Assembly, planned for 2010 at an African venue (to be determined). This edition of Critical Health Perspectives sketches the background to the campaign and some of the thinking behind it.
Citizen consumers? Using public services is not like shopping
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
A new British white paper on health suggests that patients should be offered more choice. However, visiting the doctor or phoning the police is simply not like shopping, according to people questioned for a new study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which found that most of us reject the trend towards treating everyone as 'consumers'.
Developing a human rights-based approach to addressing maternal mortality
WHO (Mozambique)
This paper looks at how approaches based on human rights could accelerate a reduction in maternal mortality, drawing on evidence from case studies. It argues that, despite fifteen years of the global Safe Motherhood Initiative, maternal mortality rates are still high, and attributes this to the status of women, the systematic violation of women's human rights, and failing health systems. A rights-based approach could help policymakers to focus on the economic, social, cultural and political forces that make it harder for poor women to access maternal health care, and especially emergency obstetric care.
Policy Brief on WIPO development agenda and human rights, 3D
3D : Trade - Human Rights - Equitable Economy
A 3D Policy Brief has been released on "Intellectual Property, Development and Human Rights: How Human Rights Can Support Proposals for a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Development Agenda." It encourages advocates, policy-makers and WIPO Member States to elaborate an actionable, pro-development WIPO intellectual property agenda consistent with States' development commitments and human rights obligations. The Policy Brief is available in English, French and Spanish.
Stigma and its public health implications
Stigma processes have a dramatic and probably under-recognised effect on the distribution of life chances such as employment opportunities, housing, and access to medical care. We believe that under-recognition occurs because attempts to measure the impact of stigma have generally restricted analysis to one circumstance (eg, AIDS, obesity, race, or mental illness) and examined only one outcome (eg, earnings, self esteem, housing, or social interactions). If all stigmatised conditions were considered together and all outcomes examined we believe that stigma would be shown to have an enormous impact on people's lives.