WHO Set On Reform Path With Concerns; Pandemic Plan Agreed, Counterfeits Not 24/05/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments After ten days of discussions, country delegates closed the annual World Health Assembly today with the adoption of a set of decisions, one of which is a drastic programme of reforms that is intended to restore the World Health Organization’s central place in public health governance.
WHO Needs Another Year To Solve Differences On Fake Medicines, Committee Decides 23/05/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Country delegates gathered Saturday at the World Health Assembly decided to give another year to a working group in charge of making recommendations on falsified medicines. Unanimously, countries decided that more time is needed to reach consensual recommendations, in particular on the prickly issue of intellectual property rights.
Workplan Of WHO Group On Neglected Diseases R&D Shows Timeline 23/05/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A World Health Organization expert working group on innovative financing of research and development for diseases particularly affecting developing countries will present its inception report and work plan this week.
WHO Members On Verge Of New Framework For Pandemic Flu Response 23/05/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Enthusiasm and relief were palpable at the World Health Assembly last week when member states in committee adopted a resolution on global preparedness in case of influenza pandemic, and in particular on the sharing of viruses and access to vaccines for developing countries.
Bill Gates Calls For “Vaccine Decade;” Explains How Patent System Drives Public Health Aid 17/05/2011 by William New and Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Microsoft legend Bill Gates is impassioned about helping to save lives as head of a large-scale foundation. Today, he explained to Intellectual Property Watch how intellectual property rights help drive that process forward and make it sustainable.
US Supports WHO Reforms, Backs Director General Chan 17/05/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United States fully supports the programme of reforms proposed by the World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan, the US health minister said today.
Chan: WHO Embarking On “Most Extensive” Reforms In Its History 16/05/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan today presented her broad vision of a reformed WHO at the opening of the annual assembly of the organisation, and said the WHO was clear of suspicion of alleged pharmaceutical industry influence on the management of the H1N1 pandemic.
World Information Society Summit Assessment: ICT Services Deemed Less Costly 16/05/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments More than five years since the last UN-led World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and less than five years before the 2015 target date of the Millennium Development Goals, experts and representatives of needy countries are in Geneva to assess how it is going. One thing they are being told: the price of information and communications technology services has dropped in the past two years.
Sounding The Alarm: Return Of US Legislation Against Global “Rogue” Websites 15/05/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Intellectual property rights holders, access to knowledge proponents, presumably online scam artists, and possibly governments and international organisations interested in internet governance heard the call of the introduction this week of the “Protect IP Act” in the US Senate. The bill is aimed at strengthening US law enforcement’s ability to stop international websites offering counterfeit goods or unauthorised copyrighted content.
Indigenous Peoples Won’t Be “Wished Away” In Traditional Knowledge Treaty Talks 14/05/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Colonial history says that indigenous peoples were in the past sometimes asked to sign treaties that may not have been in their best interest or that were not honoured. Now, under the aegis of the United Nations, some indigenous peoples fear it may be happening again, only this time they are fighting to be at the table as the subject is their traditional practices, and the outcome would apply on a global scale.