[Ip-health] WHO board sets course in IP, Avian Flu, Tighter Publication Policy

[Sarah Rimmington]

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D909
Intellectual Property Watch

4 February 2008
WHO Board Sets Course On IP, Avian Flu, Tighter Publication Policy

Posted by William New @ 3:49 pm
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By William New
The World Health Organization Executive Board recently addressed several
key issues pertaining to intellectual property rights and access to
knowledge. This included extensive discussion of pandemic influenza
policies, the management of IP and health, and an appeal by WHO Director
General Margaret Chan for governments to trust her office=92s proposal to
require pre-approval of hundreds of publications through the WHO
executive office.

The Executive Board set the pace for the annual World Health Assembly in
May. The board met from 21 to 26 January. The last meeting of the board
was in May 2007, at the time of the assembly.

At the meeting, WHO members took note (without changes) of a secretariat
report on a high-profile working group on public health, innovation and
intellectual property (IGWG) that is mandated to prepare a draft global
strategy and plan of action by the May assembly. The strategy and plan
will target =93an enhanced and sustainable basis for needs-driven,
essential health research and development relevant to diseases that
disproportionately affect developing countries,=94 the WHO said.

The group has been working slowly since 2006, and has come up with a
draft strategy and plan, but the latest draft shows many aspects still
not agreed. At the executive board meeting, some members raised concern
about the slow pace, according to participants.

The second IGWG working group meeting, held 5-10 November (IPW, WHO, 10
November 2007), was suspended and will be resumed on 28 April to 3 May
in order to finalise the draft global strategy and plan of action. The
full working group will be preceded by a meeting of the =93subgroup of
drafting group B=94 from 17-19 March, which will focus on a matrix for the
draft plan of action. Comments on the draft submitted by a 31 January
deadline will be made available in March, according to the WHO.

Pandemic Influenza Preparedness

The Executive Board also took note of a report on the mandate from the
May 2007 Health Assembly to take a variety of steps to resolve concerns
related to the fair and equitable access to vaccines for pandemic
influenza, such as an avian flu outbreak among humans. A key element of
the discussion is whether patents are interfering with development of
and access to needed treatments by developing countries.

Some progress was made at the 20-23 November meeting of the
intergovernmental working group on the issue (IPW, WHO, 14 December 2007).

But big gaps in views exist and there does not appear to be an action
for the May assembly to take, as an =93open-ended working group=94 is
expected to be held in August, and the next intergovernmental working
group meeting is not scheduled until November 2008, a year after the
last one.

Publication Policy Under Scrutiny

The WHO issues some 400 publications per year, some 75 percent by the
headquarters and the rest by regional offices, it said. Chan is
considered the organisation=92s editor-in-chief, and her office came under
pressure in the past year particularly from officials from the United
States who expressed displeasure with the publication of documents
bearing the WHO logo that were critical of the country=92s policies.

Costs of publications rose from $117 million in 1998-1999 to $347.6
million in 2004-2005 (nearly 13 percent of the organisation=92s total
budget), the WHO said.

Chan released a new WHO publishing policy in the face of concerns about
political pressure, and at the board meeting heard comments and
scepticism about the plan. But in the end, she dismissed concerns and,
in a personal appeal, urged members to =93give me a chance to manage this
organisation. Don=92t micromanage me. I=92ll do my job.=94

Chan vowed: =93Not during my time will we compromise editorial
independence=94 and quality.

Brazil called for full transparency of the process, and raised concern
that the publication policy would be subject to =93political pressure=94 to
block publications that are critical of certain governments or
practices, to which Chan replied, =93Don=92t worry, I can stand the pressur=
e.=94

She acknowledged that mistakes were made in the past, though she did not
offer specifics. She said some publications may have gone out without
proper clearance in the interest of speed, and that money had been
offered by outside sources to the secretariat in the past to pay for
publications. =93We must be courageous enough to say no=94 to money, she
said, adding that this requires showing =93financial and managerial
discipline.=94

But the concern among non-governmental groups and developing countries
is that publications critical of the United States led to a call for a
review of the publication policy (IPW, WHO, 28 September 2006). At the
recent board meeting, the United States expressed interest in greater
executive office control over publications.

Publications on IP Issues Blocked?

There also have been indications of the WHO executive office withholding
publication of any material related to sensitive intellectual property
issues, despite no formal statement of such a policy.

On executive clearance, the proposed policy from the executive office
states: =93The final text of all publications will be cleared by the
relevant assistant director-general or regional director before
publication. Publications that describe the workings of a particular
government or national health service or that have policy implications
for the organisation or address controversial health-related issues will
require additional clearance by the director-general=92s office.=94

David Heymann, the assistant director-general for health security and
environment - and an American - defended the proposal, arguing that it
is =93not ad hoc,=94 but rather part of a continuous process of updating th=
e
publication policy, and that it is in response to criticisms.

The plan will be further discussed at a WHO retreat in March, Chan said,
after which the secretariat will come back to members once there is
=93internal agreement.=94 She also noted that this is not the first revisio=
n
of WHO publication policy.

The proposed new publishing policy would ensure that publications are
=93relevant,=94 in line with WHO corporate policies, =93based on sound
evidence,=94 and are =93authoritative, credible, reliable and impartial.=94=
 It
also aims to increase the cost-efficiency, accessibility and
availability, and multilingualism of publications. And it would call for
greater protection of its intellectual property rights related to
publications.

A =93master list=94 of publications would be prepared at the start of each
biennium. Some publications, such as World Health Report, will be
cleared as much as two years ahead, Chan said. Staff members would also
have to clear any outside publishing.

Several nations, such as China and Chile called for better access to
publications, lower cost production (such as reducing paper editions),
and more translations. African countries raised concern about the
executive office spending too much time screening publications. =93We
don=92t want them to spend all their time looking at publications,=94 a
Liberian official told the board.

Denmark suggested executive clearance on =93sensitive=94 issues, and added
that =93technical issues=94 can be sensitive as well.

But the United Kingdom said it is =93very important=94 that the WHO be able
to use references to models or ideas that may not be comfortable to some
members.

William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.

--
Sarah Rimmington
Attorney
Essential Action, Access to Medicines Project
Washington, DC
Tel: (202) 387-8030
Cell: (202) 422-2687
www.essentialaction.org/access/