[Ip-health] IP-Watch: WHO Plans Public Hearing On IP Group By December

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2/10/2006


WHO Plans Public Hearing On IP Group By December


By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen
The World Health Organization will organise public consultations for
non-governmental stakeholders on a global public health and intellectual
property working group most likely in November, according to a senior
official.

Meetings are being actively held within the WHO secretariat, which has set
up a inter-departmental system involving a number of staff dedicated to the
issue.

This is =93one of the projects where the WHO is paying a lot of attention,=
=94
WHO=92s Elil Renganathan, who is the operational head of the project, told
Intellectual Property Watch. =93[What we have] ahead of us is extremely
challenging but a very important task.=94

The consultation will provide input in the form of a report for a meeting o=
n
the subject open to all member states and others scheduled for 4-8 December=
,
Renganathan, which will be like a =93mini-World Health Assembly.=94

Renganathan said that the WHO would provide information about the exact dat=
e
and nature of the consultations two weeks in advance, but tentatively they
are planned for November. They would involve the general public,
non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academics and experts, he said.

The IP project in question is an intergovernmental working group that will
discuss how research and development may be ensured in the future into
medicines for diseases that proportionately affect poor countries, or that
are neglected in general (IPW,
<http://ip-watch.org/weblog/wp-trackback.php?p=3D320> Public Health, 27 May
2006).

The group was mandated by a resolution adopted at this year=92s World Healt=
h
Assembly, and was asked to come up with =93a global strategy=94 and =93plan=
 of
action=94 by the assembly in May 2008. Renganathan is optimistic about the
outcome. =93We will come up with something,=94 he said.

Along the way, the group will report on the progress made and indicate
=93early implementation action=94 to the Health Assembly in May 2007. As
reporting to the assembly goes through the Executive Board, the group=92s
first reporting deadline is effectively January 2007, the date of the next
board meeting.

WHO Seeks to Open Process as Structure Emerges

Renganathan emphasised that the WHO, whose role is to remain neutral, wants
the process to be =93as transparent and open as possible.=94 Since the May
meeting, details on the working group have been scant.

Howard Zucker, the assistant WHO director general for health technology and
pharmaceuticals, has
<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2006/np27/en/index.html> been
appointed the political head of the group. Renganathan is from Malaysia,
studied in Germany and has been with the WHO for 10 years. He has experienc=
e
in research and development, especially into neglected diseases, and was
most recently director for the WHO Mediterranean Centre for Vulnerability
Reduction in Tunis, Tunisia.

Also providing input to the project is a steering group of senior officials
from the six regional WHO offices working on the group, he said.

Within the WHO secretariat, this is a =93cross-cluster initiative=94 althou=
gh it
is hosted by the technology and pharmaceuticals department. A number of WHO
staff are involved in the project, either on a part- or full-time basis,
Renganathan said. There is, for example, a technology group consisting of
eight people who are participating part time. There are five full-time staf=
f
at the WHO involved in setting up the group, he said.

Some countries have already started their own work, looking at the research
and development framework that is needed for their countries, he said. WHO
regional committees have also provided input for the working group,
Renganathan said.

The resolution states that the working group will be open to all, which
means all member states, but also non-member states, liberation movements,
intergovernmental groups such as the European Union as well as NGOs, who
will take part as observers.

The chair will also invite =93experts and a limited number of concerned pub=
lic
and private entities to attend the sessions=94 of the working group to prov=
ide
advice and expertise, according to the resolution.

But first the member states will choose a chair of the group at the Decembe=
r
meeting, Renganathan said.

This is not the first time the WHO is using the intergovernmental working
group model. Renganathan said, citing the Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control, although that project differed by being legally binding.

Renganathan does not believe that the upcoming change at the helm of the WH=
O
in November would threaten the IP project. He referred to the tobacco
control framework, which he said was started by Gro Harlem Brundtland but
finalised by Lee Jong-wook.

Funding also will be a challenge for the group, but for the moment WHO fund=
s
are being used, and Renganathan said the project has =93quite a bit of
funding.=94 The WHO will provide travel costs for delegates for the Decembe=
r
meeting from least developed countries in accordance with UN rules, he said=
.


Tove Gerhardsen may be reached at tgerhardsen@ip-watch.ch.

  _____

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