[Ip-health] Christian Medical Commission statement at World Health Assembly

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

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Christian Medical Commission (CMC) Churches=92 Action for Health
Agenda item: 12.20 (Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property)
Read by  Mr. Thiru Balasubramaniam

60th World Health Assembly
21 May 2007


Thank you Chair,

This statement is made on behalf of the Christian Medical Commission
(CMC) Churches=92 Action for Health and other organizations including
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), Health Action International and
the Medecins sans Frontieres Access to Essential Medicines Campaign.

As this is the first World Health Assembly under the helm of
Director-General Margaret Chan, we welcome her new commitment to
personally engage in the work of the WHO=92s Inter-governmental Working
Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property
(IGWG/PHI).  Lack of WHO leadership so far has been a problem. We
believe Dr. Chan=92s leadership is essential at this moment.

As the United Nations=92 specialized agency for health, the WHO has
created the IGWG to address the issues of both innovation and access =96
a mission that some describe as =93I+ A.=94    This is new, to find models
to support both innovation and access, recognizing that both matter.

The IGWG has been asked to implement the recommendations of the WHO=92s
CIPIH.  These include several recommendations on the need to protect
access, such as through the use of compulsory and voluntary licensing
of patents for generic competition in order to obtain affordable
products.  We support the suggestions of many NGOs and governments to
consider the creation of patent pools to enable the scaling up of such
activities.

The IGWG has also agreed to address the need for new approaches to
stimulating R&D for diseases that disproportionately impact poor people
living in poor countries.

The IGWG=92s terms of reference calls for a new WHO role in setting
research priorities, identifying funding needs, and sustainable sources
of financing.  It cannot fulfill its mission to address issues of
access unless it considers new approaches to funding the research.

We support the text of the draft resolution presented by Brazil that
calls upon the WHO:

To encourage the development of proposals for a health needs-driven R&D
system for discussion at the IGWG that separates paying for the cost of
R&D from the price of drugs;

One example of this approach was the proposal at a January 2007 meeting
on TB drug development organized by M=E9decins sans Fronti=E8res, supported
by the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, where the
participants endorsed the idea of an R&D treaty for sustainable sources
for financing for R&D for diseases like TB.  The participants suggested
to the IGWG to develop proposals that de-link incentives for R&D from
drug prices, instead rewarding the impact of inventions according to
health care outcomes.

Another proposal by KEI would be to take a proportion of the Global
Fund budget for drug purchases to fund a prize fund that would reward
developers of 2nd generation drugs in return for licensing their
inventions to a patent pool that would facilitate generic competition
for products.

The role of the public should be augmented. The IGWG should invite web
based submissions on matter of substance and procedures, on an ongoing
basis, rather than once a year.

As noted by one country delegate, the IGWG is a critical opportunity
for human genius to devise humane, innovative solutions for fostering
innovation for health problems and reconciling this objective with
access.  Among civil society, a group of NGOs have set up an
=93Innovation + Access=94 coalition to collaboratively brainstorm on the
new paradigms, and to provide technical support to country delegations.

We trust the spirit of Geneva will guide this august body to an
expeditious and equitable outcome.

Thank you Chair.




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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru@keionline.org
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