The European Parliament on 24 October endorsed an amendment to WTO intellectual property rules aimed at easing poor countries' access to essential medicines, after the EU's 27 member governments promised to help developing nations manufacture and import affordable drugs. Legislators from across the political spectrum had thrice postponed voting on the amendment, pending additional pledges of monetary and political support for developing country public health programmes from EU member states and the European Commission.
Health equity in economic and trade policies
European parliament ratifies TRIPS Amendment
BRIDGES 11 (36), 24 October 2007
Governments (still) pondering how to make drugs accessible
Cronin D: Inter Press Service News Agency, 30 October 2007
The struggle to make medicines affordable to the world’s poor, especially in Africa, is raging on at the highest levels. In the last week of October 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. In an agreement announced on October 23, European Union (EU) governments were told that they are free to make available generic versions of patented drugs for export to poor countries which lack their own manufacturing facilities.
Kenya Probes Official Link Into Bid To Strip Government Of compulsory licensing Powers
Garwood P: Intellectual Property Watch, 28 September 2007
Kenyan authorities are probing who in government may have been “compromised” by the pharmaceutical industry to try strip the African country of its right to produce medicines without patent-holder approval. There have been repeated efforts to delete parts of Section 80 of the Industrial Property Act, which was enacted in 2001. It enabled the government to issue compulsory licenses to local manufacturers to produce generic versions of pharmaceuticals, such as antiretrovirals for HIV/AIDS patients, without seeking approval from the drug company that holds the patent rights.
Kenya: Legal obstacles emerge over Free Trade deal with Europe
Muriuki A, Odhiambo A: Buisness Daily Africa, 24 October 2007
A landmark case has entered the Kenyan corridors of justice as a group of farmers and a human rights watchdog move to challenge the State over ongoing negotiations for a new trade agreement with Europe. Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), a non-governmental organisation, and small-scale growers contend that though the process of the negotiations for a new Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between Kenya and its key trade partner is of national concern, the State has failed to exhaustively involve all those who stand to be adversely affected by the pact.
SADC Executive Secretary on the Communications Strategy and Plan of Action for the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA)
Were S: Southern African Development Community (SADC) News, 10 October 2007
The author begins by presenting a brief background on the SADC Regional Economic Integration Agenda and the pertinent decisions made by the Heads of State and Government in this regard, and reminds us of the purpose of the workdhop in preparing for the launching of the FTA in 2008. The author insists the need to create awareness in this process cannot be over emphasised, and elaborates that the process of creating awareness on the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) would require a meaningful and effective involvement by all the stakeholders.
World City Syndrome: Neoliberalism and inequality in Cape Town
McDonald DA: Routledge, New York, 2008
The literature on world cities has had an enormous influence on urban theory and practice, with academics and policy makers attempting to understand, and often strive for, world city status. In this groundbreaking new work, David A McDonald explores Cape Town’s position in this network of global cities and critically investigates the conceptual value of the world city hypothesis. Drawing on more than a dozen years of fieldwork, McDonald provides a comprehensive overview of the city’s institutional and structural reforms, examining fiscal imbalances, political marginalization, (de)racialization, privatization and other neoliberal changes. The book concludes with thoughts on alternative development trajectories.
Further details: /newsletter/id/32611
Aid for trade and financial assistance to implement the EPAs
South Centre Fact Sheet 6, May 2007
This Analytical Note is part of a series of Fact Sheets designed to overview and assess the development implications of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), which the EU is currently negotiating with 76 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP). The purpose of these Fact Sheets is to examine the existing material on EPAs and to provide an analysis of their potential impact on ACP countries. The Fact Sheets seek to increase the understanding of the substantive issues at stake in the negotiations, thereby enabling policy-makers, lobbyists and campaigners to make informed decisions about how to engage with EPAs.
An analytical framework for trade in health services
Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Working Paper No. 441
The paper delivers an analytical framework for the assessments of this new sector of international trade which takes into account both the ‘general welfare aspects’ and the effects for the achievement of general ‘health system goals’. Trade in Health Services is split up according to the four modes of service supply introduced by the General Agreement of Trade in Services (GATS). For each mode examples are enclosed and the current level of trade is analysed. It is also examined what are the major obstacles for trade in these modes and what liberalization perspectives are given. The subsequent discussion and plausibility considerations of how each mode may contribute to improve efficiency as well as equity in national health systems is a systematic starting point for further research. It provides a first insight in how trade in Health Services could help to overcome resource constraints in national health systems as well as allude to the potential risks of which sight shouldn’t be lost.
Current macroeconomic frameworks, challenges and alternatives to attain Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Chipika J: Southern African Regional Poverty Network, June 2007
This paper discusses policies that have inhibited the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regions. Specifically, the paper argues that neo-liberal structural adjustment policies (SAPs) have exacerbated poverty in the region and that there is a need to balance the role of the private and public sector if the MDGs are to be achieved. The paper points to a number of negative experience and outcomes of structural adjustment in the 1980s. It describes that economic growth is stagnant or declining in many countries and poverty is increasing the context of rising inflation and unemployment. In addition, food shortages have increased particularly in Southern Africa, due to the combination of natural and policy related factors, and HIV and AIDS has ravaged the sub-continent. The paper outlines a number of economic alternatives to structural adjustment which have emerged in the region.
Getting the Regime Right — Brief on Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime
Elliott R: Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime is not delivering on the country’s pledge to help developing countries get affordable medicines. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network recommends a number of changes that will help fix the current, flawed Regime.