E-drug: new HAI report on WTO
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Dear Colleagues,
Those of you who follow the international trade agreements now being
made by members of the World Trade Organization
may find the following publication of interest.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
HAI Report Examines Impact of Trade Agreements on
Consumers' Access to Drugs
In the HAI publication, "Power, Patents and Pills" released today, a
number of consumer representatives suggest that intellectual property
agreements made by the GATT and World Trade Organization (WTO) may
have negative implications for the health of many consumers and could
limit or deny them access to pharmaceuticals, particularly essential
drugs.
This unique report is drawn from presentations made at a one-day
seminar held in Bielefeld, Germany last year. The meeting was a direct
response to the resolution passed at the 49th World Health Assembly in
1996 which called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to report on
the impact of the WTO's work regarding national drug policies and
essential drugs and to make recommendations for collaboration between
the two organizations.
"Power, Patents and Pills" highlights some consumer concerns regarding
international trade agreements. The report includes summaries of the
following presentations:
-An Introduction to GATT and WTO
by Dr. Zafar Mirza, Association for Rational Use of Medication, Pakistan
-Trade and Pharmaceutical Policies-A US Perspective
by James Love, Center for the Study of Responsive Law, USA
-WTO/GATT and Medicines: WHO's Perspective
by Dr. Colette Kinnon, WHO
-The TRIPs Agreement and Pharmaceutical Policies
by Adrian Otten, WTO
-Heads-TNCs Win, Tails-South Loses or the GATT/WTO/TRIPs Agreement
by Dr. K. Balasubramaniam, HAI Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
HAI believes that access to essential drugs should be the guiding
principle used to assess the impact of intellectual property rights on
pharmaceuticals. HAI calls for alternative models to patent protection
to be put forward and for public discussion on research and
development decisions. The organization believes countries should be
able to interpret intellectual property agreements to give the
greatest benefit to their consumers.
HAI has created an international working group on the WTO to ensure
that rational drug policies prevail and that the WTO becomes more
transparent. This publication is part of HAI's international campaign
on GATT/WTO and the implications for essential drugs policies.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact:
Lisa Hayes
Publications & Information Officer
HAI-Europe
E-mail: LISA@HAI.ANTENNA.NL
Jacob van Lennepkade 334 T, 1053 NJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
tel: +31 20 6833684, fax: +31 20 6855002
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