[Ip-health] MSF IGWG press release: critical stage for UN health summit

[James ARKINSTALL]

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TWO-YEAR PROCESS TO OVERHAUL HEALTH R&D SYSTEM=0D
REACHES CRITICAL STAGE AT UN SUMMIT=0D
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28 April 2008 Geneva =E2=80=93 This week, more than 150 countries at a UN h=
ealth=0D
R&D summit in Geneva have a chance to put right a great wrong. At the heart=
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of the problem is a broken system of medical research and development (R&D)=
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which largely disregards the health needs of millions of people in=0D
developing countries.=0D
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=E2=80=9CThis week is not just about countries signing cheques,=E2=80=9D sa=
id Dr.=0D
Christophe Fournier, President of M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res=E2=80=
=99 (MSF)=0D
International Council. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s about changing the rules of me=
dical innovation=0D
=E2=80=93coming up with new proposals that ensure the drugs we need are dev=
eloped=0D
and are made affordable. But with so many vested interests involved, will=
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governments be bold enough to take that step?=E2=80=9D=0D
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As the meeting opens, the international medical humanitarian organisation,=
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MSF calls on governments to show the courage needed to push essential=0D
reforms through, so that new life-saving drugs, diagnostics and vaccines=0D
are developed for people in poor countries.=0D
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The failure of today=E2=80=99s system is well illustrated by tuberculosis (=
TB). The=0D
most widely used test to diagnose TB was developed in the 1880s and=0D
actually misses more patients than it detects.  With the spread of=0D
resistant strains, the drugs to treat TB are growing ever more ineffective,=
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and are unable to stem the resurgence of the disease.  But funding for TB=
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research remains virtually flat.=0D
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=E2=80=9CWe won=E2=80=99t give up treating people with the TB drugs that we=
 have right now,=0D
but to really get TB under control, we desperately need new drugs,=E2=80=9D=
 said=0D
Dr. Liesbet Ohler, MSF=E2=80=99s Medical Deputy Project Coordinator in Keny=
a. =E2=80=9CI=0D
hope that governments find ways to mobilise the level of research it will=
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take to come up with effective new treatments.  If not, the future for a=0D
disease like TB looks pretty bleak.=E2=80=9D=0D
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New initiatives such as prize funds are being explored which could help=0D
steer medical R&D towards where it is most needed, and find a way of paying=
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for medical R&D in a way that doesn=E2=80=99t mean drugs are priced too hig=
h. MSF=0D
says it is looking for governments to support new mechanisms that allow=0D
this to happen.=0D
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=E2=80=9CThe R&D system status quo means that doctors working in developing=
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countries are stuck using old and failing treatments and tools for diseases=
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like tuberculosis,=E2=80=9D said Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director of M=
SF=E2=80=99s=0D
Access Campaign.  =E2=80=9CThere are some big ideas on the table that could=
 help=0D
produce urgently needed medical products for developing country diseases =
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what we really need now is the deep commitment of governments. Relying=0D
exclusively on philanthropic organisations and charities is not a=0D
solution.=E2=80=9D=0D
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Today=E2=80=99s system for developing new drugs is very heavily dependent o=
n patent=0D
monopolies.  The consensus, supported by a UN report in 2006, is that this=
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is not working: the prices of health products are kept artificially high,=
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and are reserved for the few who are able to pay.  At the same time, the=0D
diseases that mostly affect the poor are neglected, regardless of how many=
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lives they claim.=0D
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This week=E2=80=99s summit concludes a two-year process known as the=0D
Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and=0D
Intellectual Property (IGWG).  The World Health Organization hosting the=0D
summit has been instructed to deliver new ways of paying for R&D other than=
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patent monopolies, so that medical innovation is steered towards where it=
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is needed, and that it delivers products that are priced as low as=0D
possible.=0D
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Note to editors: the 2006 UN report called Public Health Innovation and=0D
Intellectual Property Rights resulted from the work of the Commission on=0D
Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health.=0D
Weblink: http://www.who.int/intellectualproperty/en/=0D
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CONTACT INFO: Clio Van Cauter, MSF +41 79 293 0270=0D
Adrienne MacDonald, MSF +41 22 849 8909