[Ip-health] IP-Watch: Internal Memo Suggests Shift In WHO Handling Of US Criticism

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

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> Sources: Internal Memo Suggests Shift In WHO Handling Of US Criticism
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> By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen
> A World Health Organization (WHO) director has taken the unusual step
> of writing a memorandum directly to the head of the WHO, seeking
> clarity on the organisation=92s handling of a United States complaint
> involving WHO staff, according to anonymous sources.
>
> The memo was prompted by concern that the organisation is handling new
> US criticism in a less transparent way than it has in the past. In a
> previous case, the office of the WHO director general consulted and
> informed relevant officers within the organisation, but has not done
> so this time, sources said.
>
> The WHO would not comment on the issue, and has said in the past that
> the organisation normally does not discuss letters from member
> countries (IPW, Public Health, 28 September 2006).
>
> Separately, two key Democratic members of Congress have begun
> investigation of the US government=92s behaviour in trade and public
> health, including questioning the US complaint from this case.
> Democrats this week regained control of congressional committees
> (which conduct investigations), and one source said the two members
> plan to step up their oversight.
>
> The internal memo was sent to the WHO director general on 4 September
> by Germ=E1n Vel=E1squez, the assistant director general of the Department
> of Technical Cooperation for Essential Drugs and Traditional Medicine,
> a source said. This department oversees intellectual property issues
> at the WHO.
>
> At the time of the memorandum, the director general role was filled by
> Anders Nordstr=F6m, who since the death of Director General Lee
> Jong-wook in May has acted as assistant director general. He will be
> succeeded by Margaret Chan, who was elected in early November.
>
> The memo, according to the source, says Vel=E1squez accidentally learned
> about an August letter to Nordstr=F6m written by William Steiger, a
> senior US health official, taking issue with the WHO co-sponsored
> publication, =93The use of flexibilities in TRIPS by developing
> countries: Can they promote access to medicines?=94
>
> This publication was written by Sisule Musungu of the
> intergovernmental organisation, South Centre, and a WHO staff person,
> Cecilia Oh, who left the WHO in October. Oh said that she had made the
> decision to leave before this complaint was filed. But a source close
> to the issue told Intellectual Property Watch that afterward, a WHO
> official indicated that Oh should discontinue working on intellectual
> property issues, despite it being her field of specialty.
>
> Nongovernmental sources said it appears to be unusual timing for the
> WHO to let its IP experts go at a time when it should be stepping up
> such efforts in relation to its role on the intergovernmental working
> group on public health, innovation and intellectual property, created
> in May. This group will have its first meeting in Geneva on 4-8
> December (IPW, Public Health, 2 October 2006).
>
> In his letter, Steiger said that the US government asserts the
> publication =93spuriously characterises the trade policy of the United
> States as a threat to public health, and it makes unnecessarily
> inflammatory and prejudicial recommendations as to how the United
> States can improve its trade policies.=94 Steiger asked Nordstr=F6m to
> review the WHO publication policy and withdraw the publication in
> question, the letter said.
>
> The memo asserted that relevant officers would typically be informed
> but that those in the department in which Oh was working, including
> Vel=E1squez and Director Precious Matsoso, were not informed about the
> letter from Steiger (which was not marked confidential), nor about a
> potential reply from Nordstr=F6m, the source said.
>
> When asked about the memo, Vel=E1squez told Intellectual Property Watch
> that Nordstr=F6m neither officially informed nor consulted him about the
> letter from Steiger. He is still not aware of any reply letter from
> the WHO, nor whether Steiger has sent a follow-up letter to Nordstr=F6m.
>
> 1998 Case Was Handled Differently
>
> In contrast, in July 1998, key officers were informed within hours by
> former WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland when she received a
> similar letter from the US government as well as one from the
> pharmaceutical industry complaining about a publication that also
> criticised US trade policy.
>
> The 1998 publication in question was entitled, =93Globalization and
> access to drugs: Implications of the WTO/TRIPS [World Trade
> Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
> Property Rights] agreement,=94 and was written by Vel=E1squez and Pascal
> Boulet, who worked for WHO. It was nicknamed =93the red book.=94
>
> The red book was ordered by a World Health Assembly resolution adopted
> in 1996, which mandated the WHO =93to report on the impact of the work
> of the WTO with respect to national drug policies and essential drugs
> and make recommendations for collaboration between WTO and WHO, as
> appropriate,=94 according to a 2004 book on the history of TRIPS and
> public health, edited by Jorge Bermudez and Maria Auxiliadora
> Oliveira.
>
> The US government =93prepared a 17-page paper =91pointing out the
> inaccuracies and false implications with which the document is
> riddled=92,=94 the book said. Separately, a letter from the Pharmaceutica=
l
> Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), dated 30 June 1998,
> stated that this is: =93 =85 a deeply flawed document that misleads its
> readers and creates a false impression of how the WTO TRIPS agreement
> will affect pharmaceuticals.=94
>
> Brundtland immediately briefed the WHO officials involved and set up
> an independent expert committee, according to the 2004 book. =93WHO
> revised a revision of the monograph [the red book] with independent
> external reviewers and input from the WTO,=94 it said, adding that this
> was after publication in January 1999 of the revision, which was
> referred to as the =93blue book.=94
>
> The WHO=92s intentions remain unclear. In his letter, Steiger said he
> expects a =93full review=94 of the WHO=92s publication policy at the
> Executive Board meeting scheduled for January 2007. Steiger also
> indicated that he would follow with a letter providing the specifics
> of his complaint. It is not clear whether the WHO has received such a
> letter.
>
> US Democrats Plan Pressure On Administration
>
> Separately, there also has been US congressional pressure regarding
> the Steiger letter. Senator Edward Kennedy (Massachusetts) and
> Representative Henry Waxman (California), both Democrats, =93have
> requested that the Government Accountability Office investigate the
> administration=92s trade negotiations and their negative effects on
> developing countries=92 access to medicines,=94 according to a joint pres=
s
> release.
>
> In a 13 October letter to US Secretary of Heath and Human Services
> Michael Leavitt, Kennedy and Waxman decry the behaviour of the Bush
> administration through the Steiger letter.
>
> =93Attempting to suppress a report because it is critical of US trade
> policy is unacceptable,=94 they wrote. =93Instead, the United States
> should seriously assess the impact of our trade politicise on access
> to medicines and public health,=94 they write.
>
> The senators also requested copies of past correspondence between the
> United States and the WHO mentioned in Steiger=92s letter, as well as
> subsequent communication made by Steiger. Intellectual Property Watch
> was unable to confirm with the senators by press time whether this
> request had been met.
>
> Separately, Switzerland sent a letter to the WHO to clarify a
> reference made in the Musungu-Oh publication. Switzerland has adopted
> a TRIPS amendment on public health.
>
> US government officials were not reached for this story.
>
> Tove Gerhardsen may be reached at tgerhardsen@ip-watch.ch.
> ------------
> Thiru Balasubramaniam
> Geneva Representative
> CPTech
> voice +41.22.791.6727
> fax +41.22.723.2988
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> thiru@cptech.org
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