[Ip-health] International Policy Network

[love@cptech.org]

Today I participated in a meeting at the Royal Institute of
International Affairs on the Economics of Essential Medicines.  There
were several co-sponsors of the event, including Merck and the World
Bank, but also one that I had not heard of before, the "International
Policy Network," which is, it turns out, a group fairly involved in
trade and IPR negotiations, although I had never heard of it before.  

This is the web page and a short discription:

http://www.policynetwork.net/

"International Policy Network (IPN) is a global network of groups and
individuals who favour the institutions of capitalism: property rights,
free markets, science and the rule of law. IPN organizes conferences,
publishes books, writes for the media, drafts briefing materials, and
promotes market-oriented perspectives on issues of key international
policy relevance."



Here was the program from today's meeting.  


PROGRAMME


The Economics of Essential Medicines

Tuesday, 10 July 2001

Venue: Chatham House, 10 St. James's Square
London SW1Y 4LE, UK

Agenda	

8:00 - 8:30 am
Coffee and registration 

8:30 - 9:00 Opening Session -Welcome and keynote addresses 

Chair: 			Dr Brigitte Granville, Head, International Economics
Programme, RIIA

Welcome remarks: 	Professor Victor Bulmer-Thomas 
Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs

Keynote addresse:	Dr. Amir Attaran, Director, International Health
Research, Center for International Development, Harvard University

			9:00-11:00 Session I - TRIPs and Essential Medicines

Chair: 	Dr R. A. Mashelkar, Director General, Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research and Secretary, Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research, New Delhi, India

9:00	Evidence on Parallel Trade in Pharmaceutical Products and
Implications for Procuring Medicines for Poor Countries
Professor Keith Maskus, University of Colorado

9:15 	Differential Pricing and the TRIPS Agreement
Dr. Jayashree Watal, Counsellor, Intellectual Property Division, WTO

9:30 	Compassionate Skepticism: Assessing the TRIPS and Essential
Medicines Debate
Dr. Owen Lippert, Senior Fellow in Law and Markets, The Fraser
Institute, Canada

9:45	Compulsory Licensing and Models for Good State Practice
Dr. James Love, Director, Consumer Projects on Technology, USA
	
	10:00 	Patent Myths and Medicines - why the global patent rules must be
reformed
	Justin Forsyth, Policy Director, Oxfam

10:15 	Patents, Patients and Developing Countries: Harmony or Discord?
Dr. Harvey Bale, Director-General, International Federation of
Pharmaceutical 
		Manufacturers Association

10:30 - 11:00	Questions

11:00-11:30 Coffee Break

11:30- 1:15 Session  2 Country Case Studies

Chair: 	Dr Roger Bate, Africa Fighting Malaria, South Africa and
International Policy Network, London, UK

11:30	Access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and feasibility of a first
governmental initiative on antiretroviral therapy in Subsaharan African
countries: the case of Senegal
Dr. Ibra Ndoye, National AIDS Programme Manager of Senegal
	
11:45	Expanding access to essential medicines in Brazil: recent
regulation and lessons learned
Professor Jorge A.Z. Bermudez, Director of the National School of Public
Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazilian Ministry of Health

12:00	Challenges in widening access to HIV/AIDS related  drugs and care
in Uganda
Dr. Dorothy Ochola, National Coordinator of the UNAIDS/Ministry of
Health HIV/AIDS Drug Access Initiative, Uganda

12:15	International versus Domestic Imperatives in the Pharmaceutical
Sector: Understanding State Response to the Pharmaceutical Imperatives
of the TRIPS Agreement
Dr. Jillian Cohen, World Bank-PAHO Pharmaceuticals Liaison Officer

	12:30	The Development Trilemma: Patents, Price Discrimination and
Parallel Imports
Professor Duncan Reekie, E.P. Bradlow Professor of Industrial Economics
at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

12:45-1:15 Questions

1:15 - 2:15 Lunch

2:15 - 3:45 Session 3 Building on Public and Private Partnerships 
Chair:	Professor Gill Walt, Professor of International Health Policy,
Department of Public Health & Policy, London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine

2:15 	Successful public/private partnerships in global health: lessons
from the MECTIZAN Donation Programme
Dr. Jeffrey L. Sturchio, Executive Director, Public Affairs Europe,
Middle East and Africa, Merck & Company

2:30 	Public-private partnerships are diverse, can enhance access to
pharmaceuticals, but are not a panacea
Dr Roy Widdus, Manager, Initiative on Public-Private Partnerships,
Global Forum for Health Research, Geneva
	
	2:45	Medicines for Malaria Venture: a years' experience
		Dr Chris Hentschel, Chief Executive Officer, Medicines for Malaria
Venture

3:00 	Globalisation and Access to Medicines: Governments approach
Malayah Harper, Health Systems and Maternal Health Team, Department for
International Development, U.K. 
	 
3:15 - 3:45 Questions

3:45 - 4:15 Tea Break

4:15 - 5:15 Session 4 Develop Effective Health Delivery System
Chair:	Professor Patrick Vaughan, Professor of Epidemiology and Public
Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
	
4:15	Providing health care to HIV patients in Southern Africa: prospects
and limitations
Markus Haacker; Economist in the World Economic Studies Division,
Research Department, IMF

4:30	The Politics of Antiretrovirals:  Issues at International and
National Levels
Dr. Louisiana Lush, Lecturer in Health and Population, Policy Centre for
Population Studies, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health,
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

4:45	Key Problems To Healthcare Access In Africa
Mirryéna Deeb, Chief Executive, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers'
Association of South Africa

5:00	Access to essential medicines: the health system requirements
Andrew Creese, Senior Health Economist, Policy, Access and Rational Use,
Essential Drugs and Medicines Department, World Health Organization

 	4:45-5:15 Questions


5:15 - 6:15 Session 5 Panel Discussion 

Moderator: Rachel Thompson, Associate Director, APCO Worldwide

Panel Members 

Dr. Amir Attaran, Director, International Health Research, Center for
International Development, Harvard University

Mirryéna Deeb, Chief Executive, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers'
Association of South Africa

Justin Forsyth, Policy Director, Oxfam

Dr R. A. Mashelkar, Director General, Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research & Secretary, Government of India Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research

Dr. Gill Samuels, Senior Director, Science Policy & Scientific Affairs,
Europe, Sandwich Laboratories, Pfizer Global Research & Development


Closing Remarks: Dr. Brigitte Granville, Head of the International
Economics Programme, RIIA


6:15 p.m Reception at Chatham House