Draft Proposal Calls For Delay Of WHO R&D Treaty Talks

A new draft proposal suggests that World Health Organization members postpone negotiations for a convention on financing of research and development for diseases predominantly afflicting poor populations. The negotiation of a convention is up for discussion by members at the annual World Health Assembly this month.

The draft proposal of Switzerland, obtained by Intellectual Property Watch, is available here [pdf].

The proposal calls for “informal, in-depth consultations with Member States on the appropriateness and feasibility of the recommendations contained in the report, in particular concerning a globally binding instrument on research and development, together with the funding implications of such an instrument.”

Switzerland suggests that views be presented at next year’s Health Assembly, following the consultations and discussions in regional committees.

The recommendation to proceed to negotiations for a binding instrument on R&D came from an in-depth two-year process under the Consultative Expert Working Group on research and development (IPW, WHO, 2 May 2012).

The draft proposal could be the subject of discussion at an event tomorrow at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, including Nobel Prize recipient Joseph Stiglitz.