[Pharm-policy] From the Okinawa G8 Communication

[James Love]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 23:02:37 +0200
From: Martin Frid <mjfrid@hotmail.com>
To: James Love <love@cptech.org>
Subject: From the Okinawa G8 Communication

Dear Jamie,

The Communication from the G8 meeting is on the web now at
http://www.g8kyushu-okinawa.go.jp/e/documents/commu.html

Below I paste points 26-32 about health and finally point 63 about
intellectual property rights and the genome.

Sincerely,

Martin Frid
Konsument-Forum
Swedish Consumer Coalition
martin.frid@konsumentsamverkan.se



Health

Health is key to prosperity. Good health contributes directly to economic
growth whilst poor health drives poverty. Infectious and parasitic diseases,
most notably HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, as well as childhood diseases and
common infections, threaten to reverse decades of development and to rob an
entire generation of hope for a better future. Only through sustained action
and coherent international co-operation to fully mobilise new and existing
medical, technical and financial resources, can we strengthen health
delivery systems and reach beyond traditional approaches to break the
vicious cycle of disease and poverty.

We have committed substantial resources to fighting infectious and parasitic
diseases. As a result, together with the international community, we have
successfully arrived at the final stage of polio and guinea worm
eradication, and have begun to control onchocerciasis.

But we must go much further and we believe that the conditions are right for
a step change in international health outcomes. We have widespread agreement
on what the priority diseases are and basic technologies to tackle much of
the health burden are in place. In addition there is growing political
leadership and recognition in the most afflicted countries that health is
central to economic development. We particularly welcome the success of the
recent HIV/AIDS conference held in Durban and the importance attached to
tackling HIV/AIDS by African leaders, donors, international financial
institutions and the private sector.

We therefore commit ourselves to working in strengthened partnership with
governments, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other international
organisations, industry (notably pharmaceutical companies), academic
institutions, NGOs and other relevant actors in civil society to deliver
three critical UN targets:
-   Reduce the number of HIV/AIDS-infected young people by 25% by 2010 (UN
Secretary-General Report to the General Assembly on 27/3/2000);

- Reduce TB deaths and prevalence of the disease by 50% by 2010 (WHO Stop TB
Initiative);

- Reduce the burden of disease associated with malaria by 50% by 2010 (WHO
Roll Back Malaria).

In order to achieve this ambitious agenda our partnership must aim to cover:
-   Mobilising additional resources ourselves, and calling on the MDBs to
expand their own assistance to the maximum extent possible;

- Giving priority to the development of equitable and effective health
systems, expanded immunisation, nutrition and micro-nutrients and the
prevention and treatment of infectious diseases;

- Promoting political leadership through enhanced high-level dialogue
designed to raise public awareness in the affected countries;

- Committing to support innovative partnerships, including with the NGOs,
the private sector and multilateral organisations;

- Working to make existing cost-effective interventions, including key
drugs, vaccines, treatments and preventive measures more universally
available and affordable in developing countries;

- Addressing the complex issue of access to medicines in developing
countries, and assessing obstacles being faced by developing countries in
that regard;

- Strengthening co-operation in the area of basic research and development
on new drugs, vaccines and other international public health goods.

We note with encouragement new commitments in these areas. We strongly
welcome the World Bank's commitment to triple International Development
Association (IDA) financing for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB. We also welcome
the announcements to expand assistance in this area made by bilateral
donors.

In addition, we will convene a conference in the autumn this year in Japan
to deliver agreement on a new strategy to harness our commitments. The
conference should look to define the operations of this new partnership, the
areas of priority and the timetable for action. Participation of developing
country partners and other stakeholders will be essential. We will take
stock of progress at the Genoa Summit next year and will also work with the
UN to organise a conference in 2001 focusing on strategies to facilitate
access to AIDS treatment and care.

..

We recognise the need for a balanced and equitable intellectual property
protection for gene-based inventions, based wherever possible on common
practices and policies. We encourage further efforts in relevant
international fora to achieve broad harmonisation of patenting policies of
biotechnological inventions.