Health equity in economic and trade policies

Africa insists trade and development are inseparable
Afriquenligne, 23 April 2008

Demanding assurance that their countries would be better off agreeing to enter Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU), African finance and trade ministers have insisted that the development dimension must be comprehensively addressed in the deals. In a declaration on the negotiations, the ministers also urged the negotiators to ensure that EPAs take into consideration the coherence between trade and development dimensions as well as Africa's regional integration efforts. After a one-day joint meeting, convened by the African Union Commission (AUC) to give political guidance on pressing issues in the areas of trade and development in relation to the EPAs, the ministers noted that the interim deals with the European Commission (EC) were contentious on a number of issues, including the definition of substantially all trade, transitional periods, export taxes, free circulation of goods, national treatment, bilateral safeguards and the non-exclusion clause.

Governments (Still) Pondering How to Make Drugs Accessible
Cronin D: IPS News, 30 October 2007

The struggle to make medicines affordable to the world’s poor, especially in Africa, is raging on at the highest levels. Last week the European Commission took a landmark decision on generic drugs and next week a high-level intergovernmental meeting will look at ways to prevent patents from blocking access to drugs.

WHO: Member States adopt resolution on transparency in medicine pricing
Third World Network: TWN Information Service on IP and Health, May 2019

The 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA) of health ministers in May 2019 adopted the resolution on “Improving the transparency of markets for medicines, vaccines, and other health products” in what is considered as a first step to improve the transparency on medicine pricing and other factors impacting prices such as clinical trial costs. The resolution urges the WHO Member States in accordance with their national and regional legal frameworks and contexts to take appropriate measures to publicly share information on the net prices of health products. Further, the resolution urges Member States to take measures to disclose the net price i.e. the price received by the manufacturer instead of the price paid by the government or customers. The resolution requires that costs from human subject clinical trials, regardless of outcomes, be made publicly available or be voluntarily provided. Further, the resolution provides a clear mandate to the WHO Secretariat to “analyse the availability of data on inputs throughout the value chain, including on clinical trial data and price information”. Unlike the initial draft, first proposed by Italy and then supported by a group of countries, the resolution does not create any responsibility on the part of Member States to ensure transparency on R&D cost and clinical trial cost. TWN report that the debate on the resolution brought out out the division within Europe between the countries with pharmaceutical industry such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark on the one hand, and countries that do not have strong pharmaceutical industry such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria and Norway. The USA supported the resolution, stating the commitment of the Trump Administration’s initiative to legislate to ensure competition in the pharmaceutical market through transparency in pricing. Though the resolution was adopted by consensus i.e. without any objection from the Member States, Germany, Hungary and the UK stated their disassociation from the resolution at the WHA plenary.

WTO Offers New Proposal to Break Deadlock
Mekay E: IPS News, 17 July 2007

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has proposed a new plan to unlock global trade talks that have stalled over farm subsidies in rich countries and reluctance by poor nations to further open their markets for Western goods and services without reciprocation from industrialised nations. But analysts who studied the new text warned that it still leaves rich countries' trade protections largely intact, while giving poor nations little in return.

#WorldvsBank protests the World Bank Doing Business Rankings
Our land, our business; October 2014

On October 10, the World Bank met for its Annual General Meeting in Washington DC. Around the world, in 12 cities, people came out to protest against the Bank’s Doing Business rankings. 'WorldvsBank', a global campaign asked the Bank to dump the Doing Business Rankings that only serve big business. The World Bank’s Doing Business ranking gives points to countries when they act in favor of the “ease of doing business.” This is argued by the campaign to smooth the way for corporations’ activity by, for instance, cutting administrative procedures, lowering corporate taxes, removing environmental and social regulations, or lowering trade barriers. The ranking system is also argued to encourage land reforms that tend to make land just a marketable commodity, easily accessible to wealthy corporations, in process neglecting human rights, the protection of workers, and the sustainable use of natural resources.

'Alternative Mining Indaba': you should not only take oil and diamonds
Evans J: News 24, February 2020

A group of about 70 people from the Alternative Mining Indaba marched to the Mining Indaba 2020 held at Cape Town International Conference Centre to highlight their concerns over the problems extractive mining is causing for communities who live near mines. Rev. Martha Mutswakatira, from the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe, who had walked down Adderley Street with the civil society activists in her white collar on Wednesday, said communities are carrying the cost of damages caused by extractive mining. One man from Angola among the Alternative Mining Indaba picket said: "When you come to Africa you need to invest in people: You should not only take oil and diamonds, and leave people with their hands empty." They demanded legal reforms, responsible supply chains, and that mines that pollute be prosecuted. They also called for the legalisation of artisanal mining, with licences being granted to these miners, and that miners and mineworkers be entitled to health and social care. They recommend carbon taxing of mining companies, not allowing social initiatives by mines to be tax deductible, and a move away from fossil fuels. The group also called for the mining industry to provide compensation for former miners' whose health has been adversely affected. Their memorandum was accepted by a delegation which included the International Council on Mining and Minerals; the Department of Minerals and Energy and the Minerals Council South Africa.

'BRICS without straw'? A systematic literature review of newly emerging economies' influence in global health
Harmer A, Xiao Y, Missoni E and Tediosi F: Globalization and Health 9(15), 15 April 2013

What influence, if any, do the BRICS (Brazil, India, Russia, China and South Africa) wield in global health, and, if they do wield influence, how has that influence been conceptualised and recorded in the literature? To answer these questions, researchers conducted a systematic international literature review, finding 887 documents, of which only seven met inclusion criteria and only one provided sustained analysis of the BRICS’ collective influence; the overwhelming tendency was to describe individual BRICS countries’ influence. Although influence was predominantly framed by BRICS countries’ material capability, there were examples of institutional and ideological influence, particularly from Brazil. Individual BRICS countries were primarily ‘opportunity seekers’ and regional mobilisers but with potential to become ‘issue leaders’ and regional organisers. Whilst it may still be too early for newly emerging economies in global health to have matured, the authors argue that there is scope to further develop the concept of influence in global health and to better understand the working of groups of countries such as BRICS. The BRICS have made a number of important commitments towards reforming global health, but they need to start putting those collective commitments into action, the authors conclude.

'Intellectual property rights do not assure quality': Interview with Sisule Musungu
Van der Westhuizen C and Michael W: IPS News Agency, 18 January 2010

Kenya and Tanzania have recently passed anti-counterfeit laws and regulations that risk blocking legitimate generic medicines instead of fake products, which is the purported purpose of these laws. Uganda is now considering a similar bill. Like the other East African legal provisions, Uganda's draft bill defines counterfeiting in such a way as to criminalise manufacturers and importers of safe, high-quality generic medication. Critics say Uganda already has adequate legislation against fake products. To explain what is spurring the adoption of these new laws on intellectual property rights, intellectual property rights expert, Sisule Musungu, points to the politics of global trade. In this interview, he notes: '…Intellectual property rights don't guarantee quality or certification of quality. And that is why talking about quality and intellectual property does not add up because they are two different things: the latter confers rights to intellectual property owners and has nothing to do with the quality of products.'

'Schizophrenic' rich nations slammed on TRIPS
Panos Online Feature

International health and AIDS activists are up in arms over the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) pre-Hong Kong approval of a controversial amendment to its intellectual property agreement, saying it will limit access to affordable medicines for the neediest countries - those that have little or no pharmaceutical production base. Activists say the amendment, approved on 6 December, is proof that the WTO has ignored those with expertise on public health and intellectual property, and buckled under the pressure of big pharmaceutical companies, who supported the amendment.

'You often get sick': the deadly toll of illegal gold mining in South Africa
Clark C: The Guardian, April 2019

According to a 2015 report by the South African Human Rights Commission, South Africa’s burgeoning illicit gold trade has been fuelled by the formal mining industry’s decline combined with the failure of government to regulate the informal mining sector. The report estimated 30,000 illegal miners were operating across South Africa; about 75% are believed to be undocumented migrants, primarily from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho. The authors indicate that hundreds have died due to collapsing mine shafts, gas explosions and turf wars between the criminal syndicates that have seized control of the illegal industry. On Johannesburg’s outskirts, cut off from support networks and services, women are bearing the brunt of the violence and lawlessness associated with illicit mining. With the vast majority of people in the area living off the proceeds of illicit mining, fear of arrest or deportation prevents many women from going to the police or seeking help at overstretched local medical clinics.

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