March 26 meeting on Compulsory Licensing

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

As indicated earlier on ip-health, CPT, MSF and HAI are 
organizing a meeting on compulsory licensing of essential
medicines for March 26, 1999 in Geneva.  The organizers are
in the process determining the participants for the meeting.
If readers of this list are interested in
this meeting, they should contact Catherine Gavin,
<cgavin@cptech.org> fax 202.234.5176, voice
202.387.8030

Several international organizations, governments, and
public health organizations are expected to participate
in this dialogue, as well as industry representatives
from IFPMA and the generic drug industry.  The following
is one the formal invites that have been sent out. 
 
 Jamie Love

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

                 Consumer Project on Technology
                    Médecins Sans Frontières
                   Health Action International


February 11, 1999

Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland
Director- General
World Health Organization
Avenue Appia 20
CH-1211 GENEVA 27
Switzerland
fax (41-22)791-0746 

Dear Director - General Brundtland:               

     This is an invitation to address a meeting on March 26, 1999
in Geneva that is being convened to discuss an initiative that
seeks to improve access to AIDS and other essential medicines. 
In particular, the meeting will address the issue of compulsory
licensing of patents on essential medical technologies.  The
meeting will last all day, and we would be grateful if you could
make a presentation to the gathering in the morning, to open the
event, or at any time that would be more convenient for you.  
                                             
     The meeting seeks to address aspects of the growing ethical
and public health dilemmas associated with access to modern
medical discoveries.  As we witness new scientific advances in
the treatment of disease, we are also confronted with highly
disparate levels of access to treatments.  Public health experts
are concerned about the health consequence of national policies
on the protection of intellectual property.  Specifically, the
meeting will be a dialogue over the appropriate use of national
laws permitting compulsory licensing of patents for essential
medical technologies.                   
                              
     As you know, although specifically allowed in international
agreements on intellectual property, compulsory licensing of
patents is a topic of some controversy.   The purpose of this
meeting is to begin a dialogue among stakeholders on several
important factual, legal and ethical questions that will provide
a context for policy making.

     The specific agenda for the March 26 meeting has not yet
been set.  However, we expect to organize four panel discussions
covering the following topics:
               
1.   The nature of access problems for essential medicines used
     to treat AIDS, malaria, tuberculous, meningitis and other
     illnesses.

2.   The status of international law on compulsory licensing, and
     the role of international trade agreements in setting
     international norms of the protection of intellectual
     property.                     

3.   Practical issues relating to compulsory licensing, including
     such issues as methods of determining compensation of patent
     owners, economies of scale and small markets, procedures and
     standards set out in Article 31 of the TRIPS and other
     topics.

4.   Views of stakeholders from the public health field, NGOs,
     industry, governments and international organizations.

     The meeting is being organized by Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF), Health Action International (HAI) and the Consumer Project
on Technology (CPT).  We recognize that not all participants in
the meeting will share the views of the organizers, and there
will be no effort to portray participation in the meeting as an
endorsement of any particular view.  Indeed, the meeting is
intended to be a frank discussion of compulsory licensing, with a
range of views expressed. We expect this dialogue to be
constructive and important, and to educate participants about
important factual and legal matters, and to deepen the
participants' understanding of the role of compulsory licensing
in our new rapidly changing global economy.  

     The participation of the World Health Organization is
particularly useful and appropriate, given the WHO expertise and
mission, and the recent recommendation by the Executive Board of
the World Health Assembly regarding the Revised Drug Strategy. 
          
     The coordinator for this meeting is Catherine Gavin, who can
be reached in the United States at 202.387.8030, fax
202.234.5176, by electronic mail at cgavin@cptech.org, or by
postal mail at P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036. 
                         
Sincerely,

Bas Van der Heide                            
Health Action International
Tel +31.20.683.3684 Fax +31.20.685.5002, bas@hai.antenna.nl
                    
Dr. Bernard Pécoul                      
Médecins Sans Frontières      
Tel +33(0)1.60.62.26.33, Fax +33(0)1 40.21.29.62, bpecoul@msf.org
                                             
James Love               
Consumer Project on Technology
Tel 202.387.8030, Fax 202.234.5176, love@cptech.org

PS: The Consumer Project on Technology has created a web site
with background information on compulsory licensing at
http://www.cptech.org/ip/health/cl


-- 
James Love, Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
202.387.8030; f 202.234.5176
http://www.cptech.org, mailto:love@cptech.org