[Ip-health] IGWG: Latin American civil society joint declaration

[Judit Rius Sanjuan]

German Rojas from HAI Peru would like to share with you the Latin
American civil society joint declaration on the IGWG . Below the text in
English. We have also received the spanish version.

LATIN AMERICAN CIVIL SOCIETY JOINT DECLARATION ON THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL
WORKING GROUP ON PUBLIC HEALTH, INNOVATION AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IGWG)

The undersigned, representatives of civil society organizations that
gathered in La Paz, Bolivia, from August 22^nd to August 24^th 2007, at
the request of the civil society and the government of Bolivia to
prepare for the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on
Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IGWG), declare:[1]

WHEREAS

That States have assumed key commitments for the protection of the life,
health, and wellbeing of the people. Thus, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights recognizes the rights of everyone =93to life=94 (Art. 3=BA), =
=93to
realization of the economic, social, and cultural rights=94 (Art. 22=BA),
and =93to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being=94 (Art.
25=BA). It furthermore recognizes the right of everyone to =93share in
scientific advancement and its benefits=94 (Art. 27=BA). Moreover, in the
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the
States recognize =93the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health=94 (Art. 12=BA),
specifying among other measures =93the prevention, treatment, and control
of epidemic, endemic, occupational, and other diseases=94 and creating the
=93conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical
attention in the event of sickness.=94

That these commitments oblige the States to create and /or use every
rightful mechanism to guarantee access to all components that contribute
to the full exercise of the right to health. Medicines are one such
component, especially essential medicines, i.e. all those that are
needed to guarantee the right to life.

That access to essential medicines is an indicator of equity and social
justice that must be embedded in the plans in the fight against poverty
in Latin American countries.

That the Revised Drug Strategy (WHA 52.19) agrees that access to medical
technologies and public health interests should occupy a primary
position, and the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public
Health clearly expresses that the TRIPS agreement does not and should
not prevent States from taking measures they deem appropriate to protect
public health and to guarantee access to medicines for all.

That the objective of the protection of intellectual property rights is
not only to protect the rights of inventors but also to protect
inventions that enhance the well being of society. No one should be
excluded from the benefits of scientific advancement.

That, in the context of the patent system, countries possess highly
permissive rules in which undue concessions are granted to patents that
directly affect the processes of research and development in third world
countries.

That medicines, many of which are protected by intellectual property
rights, are unaffordable by the poor and/ or public health systems or
place those countries that do not have comprehensive health coverage for
their citizens in a serious dilemma.

That the high price of medications is one barrier to access to medicines
by the people who require them and worsens the situation of millions of
people in developing countries that disproportionately bear a disease
burden that includes both communicable and non-communicable diseases,
where women and children are the most affected.

That negotiations of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public
Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property represent an opportunity
in the pursuit of new mechanisms for financing and promoting medical
research and development, taking into consideration the impact such
mechanisms have on access to essential pharmaceutical products (WHA 60.30).

PROPOSE

So that the following proposals coincide with the urgent needs of the
populations represented in this declaration, they must be regarded as
priorities:

1. Public health must be the frame of reference and the vital objective
of all decisions that are made in terms of innovation and intellectual
property. The participatory nature of the document=92s discussion and its
implementation must permit taking on the tendency of perceiving health
in commercial terms and must give priority to access to comprehensive
health care, thus strengthening public investment policies in this
matter so these benefit the largest majority.

2. The most important innovations are those that have a real and
effective impact on conditions of health in the people and that permit
access to necessary medicines, most of which are now no longer protected
by patents.

3. Innovation must take into account a country=92s structural causes of
dependency, such as external debt, lack of fulfillment of cooperation by
rich countries, unfair trade rules, delay in reaching the millennium
goals, and a lack of real political will by some countries in the region
for assuming their own commitments.

4. The concrete and urgent health needs of the people of the region
require the immediate adoption of measures and provisions that respond
to established consensuses, such as the flexibilities afforded by the
TRIPS agreement. Likewise, to guarantee legal, technical, and financial
conditions on a national and regional level and the necessary capacity
build for implementing these flexibilities.

5. The creation of a database that includes prices and intellectual
property rights information on medicines and biomedical technology for
the region. Such a database will, in this way, permit better negotiation
and marketing conditions.

6. All patent granting processes and procedures for medicines and
biomedical technology must be based upon the principles of transparency,
openness, and public responsibility as measures for increasing social
control on the relevancy of the proposed innovation to public health.

7. As a condition that favors innovation for public health, transparency
in terms of the data on the relationship of the cost of researching and
developing medicines, their prices, and the incentives.

8. Defining and reporting on economic, technological, and human
resources that are available for research in regional governments and
cooperating countries, allowing this way that countries in the region
fulfill their responsibilities.

9. Legal contribution to technological innovation and development must
be related to the effective fulfillment of assumed commitments of rich
countries, and those countries must respect them and avoid drawing
conditions as agreed upon in the Paris Declaration.

10. Countries must prioritize public health and give leadership to the
WHO for assuming its responsibility in this context, according to
Article 19 of its statutes, and at the same time to assume binding
commitments, including decisions that are made by the Intergovernmental
Working Group on Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property.

11. Local wisdom and biodiversity resources are the heritage of the
people and, as a consequence, must not be considered in the intellectual
property debate that primarily looks to commercial interests.
Alternative protection systems to the existing monopolistic systems must
be considered, and regional governments must be requested to participate
more actively in the WIPO discussions, involving to a greater extent
their citizens and communities and bearing in mind the region=92s
intercultural context. It is important to push for and encourage
researching and developing natural products as a complementary strategy.

12. Any delay in the realization of these above points that is imposed
by conditions brought on by commercial aspects should represent a
violation of the human rights to health and life.

AGREE

To form an alliance of civil society institutions that demands to be
recognized by the governments as a permanent and formal partner in the
development of activities of the Intergovernmental Working Group on
Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property.

La Paz, August 24 th , 2007

SIGNED:

=A7 Acci=F3n Internacional para la Salud Bolivia (AIS Bolivia)

=A7 Comit=E9 de Defensa de los Derechos del Consumidor (CODEDCO Bolivia)

=A7 Red Internacional de Grupos Pro Alimentaci=F3n Infantil (IBFAN Bolivia)

=A7 Fundaci=F3n por la Naturaleza y la Vida (FUNAVI Bolivia)

=A7 Acci=F3n Internacional para la Salud para Am=E9rica Latina y el Caribe =
-
AIS LAC

=A7 Asociaci=F3n Brasile=F1a Interdisciplinaria de SIDA - Red Brasile=F1a p=
or la
investigaci=F3n de los Pueblos =96 Grupo de Trabajo sobre Propiedad
intelectual - ABIA/REBRIP/ GTPI.

=A7 ForoSalud - Per=FA

=A7 Fundaci=F3n Instituto para la Investigaci=F3n del Medicamento en los
Sistemas de Salud =96 IFARMA - Colombia

=A7 Asociaci=F3n Peruana de Consumidores y Usuarios =96 ASPEC

=A7 Misi=F3n Salud - Colombia

=A7 Fundaci=F3n Sol=F3n =96 Bolivia


-------------------------

[1] Resolution WHA 59.24 charged the IGWG to draw up a global strategy
and plan of action in order to provide a medium-term framework based on
the conclusions and recommendations of the Commission (CIPIH) and an
enhanced and sustainable basis for needs-driven, essential health
research and development relevant to diseases that disproportionately
affect developing countries, proposing clear objectives and priorities
for research and development, and estimating funding needs in this area.

--
Judit Rius Sanjuan
Attorney
judit.rius@keionline.org

Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
www.keionline.org / www.cptech.org
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.: +1.202.332.2670, Ext 18  Fax: +1.202.332.2673