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The second round of negotiations of the Intergovernmental Working Group for Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IGWG) was held in Geneva last November. Ministries of Health and WHO were charged with coming up with a strategy and plan of action that tackles both the problems of access to medicines - such as the high cost of drugs - and the lack of R&D into diseases that mostly affect the poor.
The meeting was suspended after six days because the delegates ran out of time and will start again at the end of April.
However progress was made on establishing the principle that there must be a fundamental change in the way R&D is funded and prioritised so that patients in the developing world can benefit too from medical advances.
“What is most encouraging is that governments have decided that business as usual won’t do anymore,” said Michel Lotrowska, Campaigner at MSF’s Access to Essential Medicines Campaign. “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. One example is the decision to pursue discussions on an essential health and biomedical R&D treaty.”
“We are getting a sense that countries are pushing WHO to be more active in resolving the access to medicines crisis, and take a pro-health approach to intellectual property. And governments are taking steps to address the fundamental reasons why investment into innovation for diseases of the poor is lacking,” Lotrowska adds. “As a medical organisation, we need an R&D system that allows both medical innovation and access.”
On intellectual property issues, little progress was made during this session. These remain some of the most contentious issues in the process and it is to be expected that any progress is likely to be incremental rather than delivering immediate breakthroughs.
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