[Ip-health] Statement of Course Participants, IP and AEM, Kiev, Ukraine

[Sean Flynn]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
[Russian Version and list of participants forthcoming]



Having engaged in a 5-day training on Access to Medicines, Trade and
Intellectual Property in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, sponsored at
the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kiev, Ukraine, September
11-18, 2009, facilitated by American University Washington College of
Law Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, Mohyla
Academy and the Open Society Institute,



Alarmed at the high number of people infected with Hepatitis C (HCV),
which is estimated to be between 150-200 million people in the world,



Recognizing that there is a treatment crisis in the region for Hepatitis
C caused, in part, by the inability of treatment organizations to access
affordable pegylated interferon (commonly costing over $10,000 for a
half year course), which poses public health and national security
threats to countries of the region,



Recognizing the importance of achieving both new innovation for and
access to the best possible HCV treatments,



Understanding that regional governments are entering into agreements
with the WTO, EU and other trading partners that tend to increase
intellectual property protections on medicines far in excess of those
required by the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS),



We call on governments of the region, the World Health Organization,
bilateral and multilateral aid organizations, donors and others to:



*	Acknowledge that prohibitive prices of the best available
combination treatment option (with pegylated interferon) is contributing
to a treatment crisis for HCV in the EECA region and that urgent
measures are needed to lower prices and increase the accessibility of
current and future treatment options,



*	Investigate potential suppliers of generic pegylated interferon
or alternatives and outline intellectual property, registration and
other policy options that can be used to lower prices and increase
access to the best available treatments,



*	Provide increased technical assistance to governments, experts,
civil society, patient groups and treatment activists in the region on
the dangers of adopting heightened intellectual property and
registration barriers to accessing generic medicines,



Signed,



[participants].