E-DRUG: Oxfam, HAI (Europe) and MSFs: Joint Declaration
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Oxfam, Health Action International (Europe) and Médecins Sans Frontières would like to draw your attention to a joint declaration (see: http://www.haiweb.org/13112009/JointDeclarationTradingAwayAccesstoMedicines.pdf) that details our concerns with the European Union's current approach to intellectual property and innovation policies affecting developing countries.
Our organizations believe that the European Union's agenda is negatively impacting access to medicines in developing countries and will cause serious harm over the long-term to public health unless real reforms are instituted.
November 14th is the 8 year anniversary of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and Public Health, which was agreed upon by all WTO Member States, including the Member States of the European Union, in 2001. Under the Doha Declaration, all countries committed to ensure that public health must be prioritized over trade interests. Our three organizations are deeply disappointed that the EU is breaking this commitment, while also failing to honor its obligations under the Millennium Development Goals.
We invite your organization to sign-on to this petition, to be handed over to the incoming European Commission in December, asking the Commission to adopt a new approach towards this critical issue. The deadline to sign-on is November 30th.
Please send your organizational sign-on to Sophie Bloemen at sophie@haiweb.org.
For additional information, please refer to a recent report issued by Oxfam International and Health Action International (Europe) detailing our concerns with European Union trade and innovation policy at: http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/trading-away-access-medicines
Health Action International
Email: sophie@haiweb.org
Website: http://www.haiweb.org/>
"Terri - Louise Beswick" <Terri@haiweb.org>