PRESS RELEASE
17 MAY 1999
1999 WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
NGOs support strong mandate for World Health Organization
to ensure health is a priority in trade issues
Geneva, 17-25 May: Delegates from the 191 World Health Organization (WHO) Member States will meet at
the World Health Assembly in Geneva. At the Assembly, they will discuss the issue of access to medicines and
consider a resolution with far reaching implications for the health of people in the developing world.
The resolution, on the Revised Drug Strategy, will provide a clear role for the WHO to monitor the consequences of international trade agreements for public health. It also gives the WHO a mandate to assist countries in their efforts to safeguard public health while implementing these agreements. The WHO Revised Drug Strategy was ratified in 1986 and was designed to ensure equitable access to quality, essential drugs and to promote their rational use.
"We are very concerned about the growing number of lives at risk because of unequal access to medicines," said Dr. Bernard Pécoul of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) "MSF, together with Health Action International and The Consumer Project on Technology wholeheartedly support the passage of the resolution on the Revised Drug Strategy that will be considered by the World Health Assembly this week. We believe that the resolution helps to address the negative consequences of trade agreements on access to medicines."
The resolution already has the support of the 59 member states that took part in the drafting of the resolution, with input from the World Trade Organization, international consumer groups, international non-governmental organizations, and the pharmaceutical industry.
The revised resolution clearly emphasizes that "public health interests are paramount in pharmaceutical and health policies" and addresses "the impact of relevant international agreements, including trade agreements, on local manufacturing capacity and on access to and prices of pharmaceuticals in developing and least developed countries."
Specific concerns about the implications of trade agreements on access to medicines relate to the new global system of regulations on intellectual property contained in the TRIPS (Trade Related Intellectual Property) agreement, part of the new international trade system administered by the World Trade Organization.
Intellectual property is an important mechanism for stimulating research and development, but MSF, Health Action International and the Consumer Project on Technology do not consider that these rights should be absolute, especially when a large part of the world's population does not have access to life-saving essential drugs. "What is the use of having new, effective essential drugs if most people do not have access to them?" says Ellen 't Hoen head of the HAI team present this week at the WHA.
"Africa is facing a mind boggling crisis and the world community needs to respond. We need to embrace global rules for sharing the burdens of essential medical research and development that explicitly facilitate equitable access to new scientific discoveries. The World Health Assembly is showing needed leadership on this issue," says James Love director of Consumer Project on Technology.
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To contact Médecins Sans Frontières, Health Action International or Consumer Project on Technology at the World Health Assembly, you can call Ellen 't Hoen on + 31 6 55 73 54 72.
For further information contact the MSF's UK press office on + 44 ( 0) 171 713 5600.
Médecins Sans Frontières is the world's largest independent medical relief organization, providing care to victims of war, disasters and epidemics in 80 countries world-wide.
Health Action International is a network of more than 200 consumer, health, development action and other public interest groups involved in health and pharmaceutical issues world-wide.
Consumer Project on Technology is a US based non-profit research and advocacy organization created by consumer advocate Ralph Nader. Its activities focus on information technologies, intellectual property and research and development.