New Resolution Gives Governments Control Of WHO Work On False Medicines

After an at times bitter week-long debate on the issue of fake and poor quality drugs, member states have decided they will lead the World Health Organization forward towards a solution on the issue.

The “final result is the result we are looking for: that governments take control of the policies in WHO,” said the delegate of Brazil after the decision of the committee.

“We all recognise that there are concerns with WHO’s role on the issue and we all realise we have to talk about this,” said Spain on behalf of the European Union, adding it was “ready to enter these discussions with an open mind and without prejudice.”

The text gave a set of developing countries concerned about the WHO’s handling of the counterfeit issue what they had most wanted: a direct say in how the health organisation formulates its policies on “substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit medical products.”

This terminology was a compromise between those wanting to abolish use of the word counterfeit and focus on matters of quality, safety and efficacy, and those arguing counterfeit drugs are a particular threat in need of addressing as such.

The compromise text is available here [doc, typed by Intellectual Property Watch].

It came out of informal discussions on two earlier resolutions: one from Ecuador, on behalf of the Union of South American Nations, and India, on behalf of the Member States of the South-East Asia Region, available here [pdf] and one from the European Union and Switzerland, available here [doc, typed by Intellectual Property Watch].

Some countries oppose ‘counterfeit’ on concerns that as a term of art related to trademark law it would distract public health discussions from health to intellectual property enforcement. For related Intellectual Property Watch reporting, see (IPW, WHO, 20 May 2010, 20 May 2010, 18 May 2010, and 12 May 2010).

In parallel with the World Health Assembly, international policing agency Interpol is running a six day Intellectual Property Crime Training and Operational Workshop series in Dakar, Senegal intended to provide attendees with the skills to target “transnational organized criminals who systematically manufacture and distribute counterfeit and pirated goods throughout the region,” according to an Interpol press release.

The workshops are organised with the United States Department of Justice Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and IP crime-affected industries, says the release. They are being held from 20-25 May.

Similar workshops held in Kenya “served as a platform for the launch of a major offensive against intellectual property crime in Eastern and Southern Africa in 2009,” the Interpol release says.

Kenya earlier this week said that laws on counterfeit encouraged by the IMPACT group had proved problematic for public health, and had been drafted with the country’s trade ministry without consultation with its health ministry.

Cheikh Kane, an IP-Watch researcher, contributed reporting to this article.