[A2k] Views on the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health : 5 Years down the Road

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

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Here is a sample of views from a Nobel laureate in medicine, public
health campaigners and civil society on the Doha Declaration on the
TRIPS Agreement and Public Health on its 5th year anniversary.  To see
what some of the same groups said 5 years ago when the Doha Declaration
was promulgated please see this link:

http://www.cptech.org/ip/wto/doha/ngos11132001.html

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Views on the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health
: 5 Years down the Road


November 14, 2006


John Sulston FRS, 2002 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine

The WTO negotiations over TRIPS are worthy of Joseph Heller - just one
damned catch after another.

Celine Charveriat, Oxfam International

The Doha Declaration said all the right things but to date has
delivered virtually nothing to poor patients. We've gone backwards in
five years.  The US and the pharmaceutical industry are actively
challenging any  developing country that has tried to assert its rights
and interpret  global intellectual property laws in order to protect
public health. The  declaration will be worthless for poor patients in
developing countries until rich countries match their rhetoric with
action.

Mira Shiva, People=92s Health Movement (PHM)

The Doha Declaration on Trips & Public health was brought about because
of public health concerns expressed by developing countries & civil
society . We have in the last 5 years witnessed the unwillingness to
genuinely implement the flexibilities, we have witnessed the creation
of new hurdles , the NON REVEIW of TRIPS=A0 , the=A0 seduction=A0 or
arm-twisting of=A0 developing countries to sign TRIPS PLUS=A0=A0& many othe=
r
biased trade measures through regional & bilateral=A0FTA's in the name of
greater trade & economic growth . We watch with pain the increasing
inequities & worsening=A0of the health & life of millions WHICH IS NOT
ACCEPTABLE .

K Balasubramaniam, Health Action International Asia-Pacific (HAI-AP)

There is an urgent need for a clear sign of political will to give
precedence to public health interests over commercial interests, This
is nowhere to be seen.  The clock is running out.

Dalindyebo Shabalala, Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

The Doha Declaration was a major step forward as a statement of
principle.=A0 Whether the implementation of the declaration, both in the
2005 amendment to TRIPS, and in the slowly growing application of
national laws, will reflect that broad spirit is very much in doubt.=A0
The data are not yet in.=A0 However, we do have one guide -- the old
maxim, "Garbage in, garbage out." A restrictive implementation will
lead to restricted health outcomes.=A0 Only an approach that focuses on
the delivery of better health outcomes rather than the protection of
profit margins can accomplish what the spirit of the declaration
intended.

Colleen Daniels, Health Action International Europe (HAI Europe)

In 2001, after the Doha Declaration was signed, Ambassador B.G.
Chidyausiku, of Zimbabwe , asked the questions: "=85 how do we make it
effective? How do we make it deliver the medicines to the people? How
do we avoid this declaration ending up as a dead letter?" Today, the
answer is that the Doha Declaration was not effective in
implementation, it did not deliver medicines to the people and it seems
as if it is indeed a 'dead letter.' Now we can only hope that the WHO
Intergovernmental Working Group on R&D can finally make the necessary
changes to a system that is broken.


Sangeeta Shashikant, Third World Network (TWN)

Five years since the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health, there
is little to celebrate. The problem of access to affordable medicines
continues. Although a few developing countries have used the
flexibilities available since Doha, pressure from some developed
countries and multinational pharmaceutical companies to not make use of
these flexibilities or to adopt rules that go beyond the TRIPS
Agreement is now more stronger and as a result undermining the Doha
Declaration.

James Love, Consumer Project on Technology (CPTech)

The 2001 negotiation was a good moment for the=A0global trading system
and for public health.=A0 The 2003 negotiations were a bad moment, giving
us a cynical agreement that was designed to do as little as possible,
in real life.=A0 But the 2001 agreement is still the more important -- it
provide a basis and a mandate to protect access to medicine for all.=A0
For this to be achieved, we have to move to new paradigms for the
management of intellectual property rights, and the support of R&D.
Most important, we need to break the link between drug prices and R&D
incentives.=A0 This is now possible, but we have to make it happen.

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
CPTech
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru@cptech.org
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