After an innovative partnership between a non-governmental group and a pharmaceutical company led to a new cheap non-patented drug against malaria being available in Africa in 2007, the model is being implemented again with another new non-patented anti-malarial drug being delivered to South American patients. Drug research and development being carried out under public funding is a new model that should lead the way, Ann-Marie Sevcsik, DNDi scientific communications manager, told Intellectual Property Watch. “Research and development should be ‘needs-driven’ instead of profit-driven, and not only for neglected diseases but for neglected patients, like cancer patients in the developing world,” she said.
Health equity in economic and trade policies
Innovative Partnership To Create Another Patent-Free Malaria Drug
Saez C: Intellectual Property Watch, 17 April 2008
Interim EPAs in Africa: What’s in them? And what’s next?
ODI and ECDPM: Trade Negotiation Insights 7(3), April 2008
By the end of 2007, only eighteen African states (including most non-LDCs and some LDCs) had initialled interim EPAs, as had two Pacific non-LDCs (Fiji and Papua New Guinea), while Caribbean countries went further and approved full EPAs. What have they agreed to? What are the main implementation challenges, some of which will require support from Europe? And for those that remain committed to this process, what are the options for the completion of negotiations towards full EPAs? The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) study attempts to analyse these questions as comprehensively as possible, with a focus on Africa. This article summarises some of the main findings.
Making full use of TRIPS flexibilities in patent laws: A critical review of Uganda’s draft Industrial Property Bill
HEPS Uganda
Since 2000, the Uganda Law Reform Commission has been spearheading the process of reforming Uganda’s patent legislation. The reform is taking place in the context of the Doha Development Agenda, a process for continued negotiations on areas of concern within the WTO agreements raised by developing countries during the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. Although the country's draft bill has been improved in a number of aspects, there is still need for improvement on the drafting language to make use of the flexibilities in the widest allowable sense and capture the new thinking regarding these flexibilities.
Mandelson rules out renegotiation of partnership accords
European Parliament, 18 April 2008
Any renegotiation of the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) already initialled with the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) would be a disaster, Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told members of the EP International Trade Committee on Thursday. Referring to recurrent criticisms of the EPAs, Mr Mandelson ruled out "any suggestion of renegotiating the agreements already initialled". Any renegotiation would constitute "a new threat of legal uncertainty to the agreements but would also be a disaster for the ACP countries", according to Mr Mandelson, who restated his goal of concluding "full EPAs with comprehensive regional coverage" in the six geographical regions.
Process to date for WHO's Intergovenmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights: An African perspective
Misati, ME
This paper presented at the second regional meeting of the Africal Civil Society Coalition on the Intergovenmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights in Arusha, Tanzania, 3-4 April 2008 highlights the process in developing AFRO's approach to the negotiations, the common AFRO position(s), and achievements and challenges so far. A number of concerns have been incorporated in the Draft Strategy and Plan of Action progress report, while some interests are not yet realised because either the respective issues have not yet been negotiated or no consensus has yet been reached on them.
Statement to the African member states of the World Health Organisation on the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property
The African Civil Society Coalition on IGWG, 4 April 2008, Arusha
The African Civil Society Coalition on IGWG statement reiterates commitment to the ongoing WHO initiative to develop a Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property. It reaffirms that there is an urgent need for action to improve access to medicines for people in developing countries. People cannot access the medicines they need; The economic, social and political determinants of illness are not being sufficiently addressed; The pharmaceutical market is not driven by public health interests, but by commercial interests; Patent protection and high prices are two of the barriers blocking poor people’s access to medicines; Funding for research, development and access (RDA) to medicines is insufficient; There is a lack of innovation for medicines for many of the diseases prevalent in our countries; Health interests of poor people are neglected by the profit-driven pharmaceutical market.
Further details: /newsletter/id/33102
The EU’s approach to Free Trade Agreements: Intellectual Property
ActionAid International, Christian Aid, Oxfam International: EU FTA manual, Briefing 8
This paper forms part of a series of eight briefings on the European Union’s approach to Free Trade Agreements. It aims to explain EU policies, procedures and practices to those interested in supporting developing countries. It is not intended to endorse any particular policy or position, rather to inform decisions and provide the means to better defend them. The views expressed in the briefings do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers.
Uganda: Civil Society Vows to Stop EPA
Olanyo J: The Monitor (Kampala), 28 March 2008
As the recently initialled interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) continues to take centre stage, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Africa have vowed to step up their stop-EPA campaign saying the pact has contentious issues. CSO's converging in Kampala for a three-day eastern and southern Africa regional forum reported concern about some clauses in the agreement, which they contend are not developmental and should be rolled back. They cited clauses which call for free trade opening, non application of export taxes and the provision that once you sign an agreement it can't be open for negotiations.
WHO Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property
Mubangizi, P
This presentation was given at the second meeting of the African Civil Society Coalition on the Intergovernmental Working Group in Arusha, Tanzania, 3-4 April 2008. It provides basic information on the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH), regarding its mandate and the implementation of its recommendations. One of these recommendations was to establish an intergovernmental working group (IGWG) to draw up a global strategy and plan of action in order to provide a medium-term framework based on the recommendations of the Commission. The aims of the strategy and plan of action are to secure an enhanced and financially sustainable basis for needs-driven, essential health research and development relevant to diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries.
Aid effectiveness: overview of the results 2006 survey on monitoring the Paris Declaration: How can donor countries fulfil the Paris Declaration commitments?
DAC-OECD Working Party on Aid Effectiveness and Donor Practices, 2007
This document presents the first volume of results from a survey on the Paris Declaration. It provides an overview of the key findings across the 34 countries involved, as well as assessing the survey process and setting out key conclusions and recommendations. Key implications of the survey that are highlighted include higher expectation levels for reform, deeper ownership and more accountable institutions, and increasing aid efficiency together with donor harmonisation. The authors suggest that aid effectiveness issues and results need to be discussed more explicitly at country level, and credible monitoring mechanisms need to be developed. If countries and donors are to accelerate progress towards achieving the Paris Declaration commitments, it is recommended that: partner countries must deepen their ownership of the development process; donors need to support these efforts by making better use of partners' capacity; to further harmonisation, donors must work aggressively to reduce the transaction costs of delivering and managing aid; and to begin addressing mutual accountability commitments, countries and donors should clearly define a mutual action agenda.