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.
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.
EU Makes Push To Facilitate Geographical Indications In ACP Countries 16/05/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A European Union-backed project organised a conference at the World Trade Organization last week to rally Africa to the cause of geographical indications.
New Reports On TRIPS And Tech Transfer, LDC Needs 14/05/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Two new reports circulated in Geneva this week examine ways to improve technology transfer to least-developed countries (LDCs) as mandated under international intellectual property trade rules, and assessments of the intellectual property needs of LDCs in recent years.
World Health Assembly To Address Organisational Reform, IP Issues 13/05/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The state of global health and the work of the international organisation in charge of providing leadership in public health matters will be scrutinised at the annual World Health Assembly starting next week.
Developing Countries Need Help To Get Research Results Patented, IP Proponent Says 10/05/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Developing countries are not taking advantage of discoveries made by their scientists and researchers because they lack an appropriate intellectual property infrastructure and expertise, according to a long-time United States proponent of IP rights speaking in Geneva last week. He called for development funds to be redirected to address these shortcomings rather than only supporting IP enforcement initiatives.