The World Health organisation (WHO) has convened an intergovernmental working group (IGWG) with a remit to produce a Global strategy and a plan of action to ensure new medical products are developed, and that these and existing ones are made affordable. The texts are to be used for a resolution to be adopted at the world Health Assembly next year.
The latest meeting of the IGWG was in Geneva at the start of November and lasted six days before negotiations were suspended. The difficulty in agreeing a draft text experienced at the meeting has meant that they will not now be reconvened until January and in the intervening time more informal discussions and working groups have been arranged so as to take forward the drafting process.
The meeting in Geneva has seen progress in the negotiations, even though widespread agreement on text was not possible in the six days available. Nevertheless, as Michel Lotrowska, Campaigner at Doctors without boarders (MSF) Access to Essential Medicines Campaign stated after the meeting : “What is most encouraging is that governments have decided that business as usual won’t do anymore. They are open to exploring entirely new ways of financing essential health research, in such a way that the fruits of innovation are accessible to those who need it the most.” An example of such new ways of approaching these issues is the inclusion in the drafts agreed thus far of a possible health and biomedical research and development treaty.
However the convening of negotiations for such a treaty would appear to be rather distant with some Member States taking a rather negative stance. A surprising Member State that persistently pressed for the protection of intellectual property rights more stridently than the protection of public health was Sweden. EPHA understands that this negotiating stance has led to a number of questions being prepared by MPs for the relevant Ministers to answer in the Swedish Parliament.
What is clear from the suspension of the negotiations is the amount of work still necessary before a comprehensive global consensus will be reached that will truly serve public health, universal access to medicines and innovation.
