Africa needs the capacity and donor aid to react swiftly to deal with a potentially large-scale outbreak of bird flu, a conference of experts from 19 African countries heard yesterday. "Africa needs a rapid response to the disease and must draw up practical measures to control and prevent the disease," Malawi's Agriculture Minister, Uladi Mussa, said on the opening day of the conference in the capital, Lilongwe.
Health equity in economic and trade policies
Amendment to the TRIPs Agreement: The issue of universal access
TRALAC Discussions: Kruger P
On the 6th of December 2006 the WTO General Counsel agreed to amend the TRIPs Agreement by permanently incorporating an earlier waiver. Paul Kruger, a TRALAC researcher, comments on the decision to "Amendment to the TRIPs Agreement: The issue of universal access".
Bottleneck of generic drug applications giving branded drugs more time on the market without competition?
CNN.Money.com: Smith A
Big Pharma could land billions of dollars in annual sales that it would have lost to generic competitors thanks to a Food and Drug Administration backlog of applications for generic drugs. The article dissects the potential advantages and disadvantages, including it being bad news for generic drug makers like the industry leader Teva Pharmaceuticals, but great news for Big Pharma companies which can continue to sell their branded drugs after their patents have expired without any generic competition.
Focus on the global South: Lamy intends to ram through modalities at mini ministerial
Kwa A
In a green room WTO meeting of some Ambassadors convened on Monday 3 April, Pascal Lamy informed the group that he will indeed convene a mini ministerial. He has told a small group of Ambassadors to let their Ministers know that they should be in Geneva by 29/30 April to 3/4 May. (Another Ambassador gave another set of dates - 27 April - 5 May). It will be a invitation only Ministerial of about 20-30 Ministers. Ministers from Africa are likely to include Kenya, Mauritius, Zambia, Benin, Senegal, Egypt, South Africa, possibly Nigeria. Agriculture and NAMA week is taking place starting 17 April. Read more at the link below.
Further details: /newsletter/id/31494
Improving hormonal contraceptive supply: the potential of generic and biosimilar drugs
Eldis Health Systems/ Private Sector Partnerships-One: Armand F
Research and development (R&D) companies dominate both the public- and private-sector markets in developing countries, despite the growing number of manufacturers able to produce low-cost generic and biosimilar products around the world. This paper describes the different types of hormonal contraceptive manufacturers and opportunities for increased competition from generic and biosimilar suppliers in the procurement field and the commercial sector, as well as barriers faced in the industry.
World Bank accused of deception over malaria funding
The Guardian Unlimited (UK): Boseley S
The World Bank, a leader in the global effort to control malaria, has been accused of deception and medical malpractice by a group of public health doctors for failing to carry out its funding promises and wrongly claiming its programmes have been successful at cutting the death toll from the disease. The serious charges are levelled by Amir Attaran, a professor at the Institute of Population Health and faculty of law of Ottawa University, and colleagues from around the world. Writing in an online publication for the Lancet medical journal, they say the World Bank is unfit to lead global efforts to control the disease, which kills around 1 million people a year - most of them small children.
13 countries join forces on air ticket tax for poor
USAToday/ Reuters: 1 March 2006
Thirteen countries joined forces Wednesday to adopt a tax on plane tickets to raise money to fight Aids and other killer diseases, Reuters reported, despite resistance from airlines. Brazil, Britain, Chile, Congo, Cyprus, France, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nicaragua, and Norway have now agreed to raise or started raising a sum from air tickets to help the poor, they said in a closing statement.
Africa vows to resist after GM ruling
Business Report (South Africa) via Tralac
The US may push Africa to accept genetically modified (GM) food now that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled the EU broke rules by barring GM foods and seeds, however, Africans vowed yesterday to resist.
Bush USTR head Bob Portman violates executive order that protects Africa from trade pressures on medicine patents
The Huffington Post: Love J: 1 March 2006
James Love, describes his "discussion with trade officials and public health groups from Southern Africa about the most recent round of negotiations involving the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Rob Portman, the head of the USTR, is violating a May 10, 2000 Presidential Executive Order, which prohibits the USTR from pressuring countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to have rules for intellectual property rights on medicines that exceed the norms set out in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Free trade and AIDS drugs
New York Times Editorial, 28 March 2006
Southern African governments have a special need to make or buy low-cost generic drugs to save their citizens. World trade rules are amenable, containing safeguards that allow countries to use generics to preserve public health. But the Bush administration is now negotiating a free trade agreement with the Southern African Customs Union. This article further discusses its implications ; that the United States should not, in the process, restrict the ability of poor people to get generic drugs in these countries.