Negotiating on IP and public health: the WHO IGWG

SPICY IP:

The IP world is abuzz this weekend with the meeting of the members of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on issues of innovation and IP in public health, with a focus on the needs of developing countries, and neglected diseases. The Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) hopes to design a consensus strategy paper to be presented at the World Health Assembly later in May.
An excellent overview of developments thus far can be found on IP Watch, which has been following the meeting (which ends later today) very carefully. There is little need to reproduce the entire article here, however, I shall highlight some of the issues that have been discussed thus far, as culled from this report.

The mood of the meeting was set by WHO Director-General Margaret Chan who said that an “agreed framework can make the cycle of product discovery, development and delivery more efficient and more sensitive to health needs in the developing world”.

But differences in whether and how consensus can be achieved remain: developed countries want to end discussion this week with a definite consensus, ideally wishing for WHO withdrawal from IP issues; while others, particularly developing country representatives, are wary of hasty decisions.

The fulcrum of the debate is nothing new: that the IP system, as it exists today, does not create economic incentives for private players to invest in research and development (R&D) for neglected diseases (i.e., diseases endemic in low-income populations in developing regions of the world that are unable to pay high prices to recover R&D costs. Fatalities from these diseases are estimated to equal those from HIV-AIDS.)

While the fundamental problem is being assimilated by member countries, a larger debate ensues: should WHO should engage in IP matters at all, and not leave such issues to the WTO or WIPO or individual member…


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