# \[e-drug\] Open Letter on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property

**URL:** https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-open-letter-on-public-health-innovation-and-intellectual-property/31907
**Category:** e-drug
**Created:** [May 18, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-open-letter-on-public-health-innovation-and-intellectual-property/31907 "2009-05-18T20:12:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
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### Author: ![Terri\_Louise\_Beswick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terri\_Louise\_Beswick](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/Terri_Louise_Beswick)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-open-letter-on-public-health-innovation-and-intellectual-property/31907/1 "2009-05-18T20:12:19Z")

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E-DRUG: Open Letter on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property  
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dear e-Druggers,

On Monday, 18 May 2009, on the first day of the 62nd session of the  
World Health Assembly (WHA), seven nongovernmental organizations sent  
a letter to WHO Member States on the outstanding components of the  
Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property,  
contained in resolution WHA 61.21.

We copy the letter below.

LETTER:

May 18, 2009

Open Letter to WHO Member States on outstanding components of Plan of  
Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property

Dear WHO Member States,

During the 2008 World Heath Assembly WHO Member States reached  
unanimous consensus on resolution WHA 61.21 that adopted a Global  
Strategy and unfinished Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation  
and Intellectual property.

The outstanding components of the Plan of Action should be finalized  
at the 62nd session of the World Health Assembly. WHO Member States  
will have to take important decisions concerning the stakeholders,  
time frames, progress indicators and funding needs.

Document A62/16 contains a report outlining the progress accomplished  
to date. Further work is needed. Specific actions are necessary from  
WHO and Member States to proactively implement the Global Strategy and  
Plan of Action. The Quick Start Programme lists a number of activities  
that WHO - irrespective of the Global Strategy and Plan of Action - is  
already implementing in existing work plans. It is important to see  
what new and additional activities WHO is planning.

Document A62/16 Add.2 contains the proposed progress indicators.  
Further work needs to be done on this issue also. For example, the  
indicators proposed are quantitative, when qualitative indicators are  
also required. It's not just the number of indicators or the process  
that needs to be measured, it is the effect and the impact of these  
policy measures on public health. It is important that Members States  
contribute to the definition of such outputs measures at a national  
and regional level and that WHO is required, when it reports back on  
implementation, to include the results of such output measures.

We also call your attention on the document A62/16 Add.3 where the  
results of informal consultations among some Member States on  
stakeholders are presented. We are surprised that WHO has been removed  
as stakeholder in action 2.3(c) that "encourages further exploratory  
discussions in the utility of possible instruments or mechanisms for  
essential health and biomedical R&D, including inter alia, an  
essential health and biomedical R&D treaty."

We are now more than seven years after the 2001 WTO Doha Declaration  
on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, and in the middle of a  
number of public health crises regarding both innovation and access to  
essential health technologies. We are facing our third recent alert  
for a new public health pandemic. There is a clear need for a  
discussion on what global norms for biomedical research and  
development are necessary. The WHO is the UN agency with the global  
mandate for health. It unacceptable that there would be any opposition  
to the WHO having a role in taking forward discussions on what global  
norms should be contained in a proposal for a biomedical R&D treaty.

Resolution WHA 61.21 is a result of a member driven process with  
active civil society engagement; however, the transparency of the  
decision making process that has allocated stakeholder responsibility  
falls short of a contributory democratic process. It would be against  
the spirit of WHA 61.21 if a narrow interpretation of the role of  
stakeholders which would exclude civil society was adopted.

The Global Strategy and Plan of Action is a unique document that has  
the potential to address public health needs with respect to  
innovation and access. We urge Member States, when finalizing the Plan  
of Action, to ensure that WHO is given an adequate mandate to advance  
this strategy. This will require that WHO adopts new approaches and  
has the ability to explore new ideas.

Sincerely

Essential Action  
Health Action International  
Health Gap  
Knowledge Ecology International  
Medecins Sans Frontieres  
Oxfam International  
Third World Network