E-DRUG: Lancet: editorial on IGWG + letter on pharma-funded patient groups
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Dear all
Please find below excerpts from:
- a Lancet editorial on the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public
Health, Innovation and IP (IGWG)
- and a letter from representatives from Thailand, India, Maldives and Sri
Lanka on the question on industry funding of patient advocacy organisations
during the IGWG web hearings.
For the full texts, freely available after registration, please see
www.lancet.com:
Editorial:
IGWG suspended but must not stall
"...as highlighted at the closing session by a representative from the
Kenyan delegation, there must be tangible progress before the next meeting.
People living in poor countries have the most to gain from the global
strategy and plan of action but they also have the most to lose. The IGWG
process must not be allowed to fail or falter however contentious the
issues, and however forceful, or manipulative, the opposition."
Letter:
WHO's web-based public hearings: hijacked by pharma?
"To facilitate input from interested organisations, individuals, and the
public, web-based public hearings were organised by the IGWG secretariat.
On review of the second round of such public hearings, we were disturbed by
what we found....we have serious doubts as to the motives and the
credibility of these submissions to the public hearings."
Jamea Arkinstall
MSF
James.ARKINSTALL@paris.msf.org