Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has said the glaring failure revealed in the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) report on Zambia justifies the call for more investment in the social sector. Commenting on the contents of the MDG report that was released recently, CSPR assistant co-ordinator Gregory Chikwanka said the report's revelations heralded the need for the government to revisit the resource allocation procedures. The report states that of the 10 MDG targets, Zambia could probably achieve one while possessing the potential to achieve only six others.
Health equity in economic and trade policies
MDG report on Zambia justifies more social sector involvement
Medicines Patent Pool and Roche Sign HIV Medicines Agreement: Focus on Preventing Blindness in People Living with HIV
Medicines Patent Pool: 5 August 2013
The Medicines Patent Pool and Roche have announced an agreement to increase access in developing countries to valganciclovir, a key easy-to-take oral medicine to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV), a viral infection that can cause blindness in people living with HIV. The agreement will significantly improve access to Roche's valganciclovir for people living with HIV in 138 developing countries by making it up to 90% cheaper than current prices. As a second step, the Medicines Patent Pool and Roche will also enter into licensing and technology transfer negotiations to encourage the development of internationally approved quality generic versions of valganciclovir. The most widely used treatment for CMV in developing countries requires injections directly to the eye, which can be painful and also difficult to administer on a large scale. The Medicines Patent Pool will also work with other key stakeholders to develop long-term treatment strategies for scaling up the use of valganciclovir for treatment of HIV-related CMV in developing countries.
Medicines Patent Pool responds to ITPC concerns over Gilead-Pool licences
Medicines Patent Pool: November 2011
This document provides responses to the concerns expressed by the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) regarding the Gilead-Pool licences issued by the Pool in October 2011. The ITCP was concerned that the licences might undermine TRIPS flexibilities that would allow developing countries to manufacture and purchase cheaper generic medicines, but the Pool refutes this, arguing that one of the core principles of the Pool is to ensure that the terms and conditions it negotiates do not undermine the use of other mechanisms that can improve access to affordable medicines. Least-developed countries (LDCs) still have the option of not introducing patent protection for pharmaceuticals until 2016, the Pool notes. The licences do not require countries to apply to Gilead for ‘prior permission’ for use of a compulsory licence (CL), as countries retain their sovereign rights under the TRIPS Agreement to issue CLs for any reason, and licensees are expressly required to supply countries that do so. Further, the Pool argues that the licences do not block the ability of excluded countries to parallel import generic medicines – countries that have adopted appropriate provisions in their national laws may still be able to purchase the patented product at a lower price in a different country. In addition, the Gilead-Pool licences do not prevent licensees from challenging the validity of any of the licensed patents. Generic companies and civil society groups are free to oppose the grant of any patents they feel do not meet the requirements of patentability. Although the Pool does not have the authority to set patentability criteria or to grant patents (this rests with national governments), it can play a role in ensuring they do not block access to medicines.
Medicines, Patents and Trips
The agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) introduced intellectual property rules into the multilateral trading system for the first time, with profound consequences for developing countries. But the high cost of AIDS treatments has injected an ethical element into the TRIPS debate, posing new problems for the pharmaceuticals industry.
Medicines: Counterfeit medicines
World Health Organization: Fact sheet No 275, January 2010
This fact sheet contains vital information on counterfeit medicines, especially regarding identification of these medicines. Counterfeit medicines are medicines that are deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source. Use of counterfeit medicines can result in treatment failure or even death. Public confidence in health-delivery systems may be eroded following use and/or detection of counterfeit medicines. Both branded and generic products are subject to counterfeiting. All kinds of medicines have been counterfeited, from medicines for the treatment of life-threatening conditions to inexpensive generic versions of painkillers and antihistamines. Counterfeit medicines may include products with the correct ingredients or with the wrong ingredients, without active ingredients, with insufficient or too much active ingredient, or with fake packaging.
Medicrime: Another anti-counterfeiting convention emerges in Europe
Emert M: Intellectual Property Watch, 24 April 2010
While the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is getting a lot of attention with its draft consolidated version just published, there is another convention dealing with one major aspect it was always said ACTA would tackle. The Medicrime Convention of the Council of Europe sets the first international standard for criminalising the manufacturing and distribution of counterfeited medicine risking public health. Governments that will sign the convention later this year commit to establish as offences 'the intentional manufacturing of counterfeit medical products, active substances, excipients, parts, materials and accessories' (Article 5), 'the supplying or the offering to supply, including brokering, the trafficking, including keeping in stock, importing and exporting of counterfeit medical products, active substances, excipients, parts, materials and accessories' (Article 6) and also the 'falsification of documents' (Article 7). Medicrime also covers falsified medical devices and aims to see 'aiding, abetting and attempt' of the described acts criminalised. According to Medicrime, falsification of generic drugs also would be covered and so would the distribution of legal drugs on the black market like hormones sold without prescription to people who want to build up their muscles or enhance their performance. Also drugs brought to the market without undergoing existing controls will be covered.
Member Nations Balk At World Customs Organization IP Enforcement Push
Mara K: Intellectual Property Watch, 27 June 2008
Concerns ran high in some developing countries last week that their voices have been largely absent from a draft set of standards for heightened intellectual property enforcement advancing rapidly at the World Customs Organization. With the draft standards sent early - and, some say, without mandate - to decision-making bodies at the WCO, the organisation looks poised to become the next major platform for debate on global enforcement of intellectual property, as members discuss the possibility of incorporating IP protection into customs law.
Memories and blessings of China-Botswana relations: A review on 35 years of diplomatic relations between China and Botswana
Huanxing L: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 7 Jan 2010
This review by the Chinese ambassador to Botswana marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the China and Botswana. According to the ambassador, trade and technical co-operation serve as the driving force behind bilateral relations between the two countries, as China considers mutually beneficial co-operation as more important and useful than unilateral assistance. The Chinese government has also undertaken technical exchanges and transfers with Botswana, notably in agriculture and health. From the 1970s to 1980s, China helped train a group of agriculture technical personnel from Botswana and sent experts to conduct local land survey and planning projects. Three Chinese senior agricultural experts are now helping Botswana in agricultural policy making and improving farming technology. In health and medicine, China has sent medical teams to Botswana since 1980, like the Twelfth Team, comprising 40 medical staff and six support staff, who provide medical services in public hospitals in Gaborone and Francistown. In the review, the ambassador acknowledges that his country aims to further scale up human resources development as an important component of bilateral relations. Since 1999 almost 300 Botswana officials and technicians have attended seminars, workshops and short-term training programmes in China – covering areas of administrative management, commerce, information etc – and the number is set to increase.
Mercury exposure in a low-income community in South Africa
Oosthuizen MA, John J and Somerset V: South African Medical Journal, 100(6): 366–371, June 2010
This study aimed to establish whether a specific community in a gold mining area, with potentially associated small-scale gold mining activities, was exposed to mercury. Thirty respondents completed a questionnaire and mercury levels were determined in 28 urine and 20 blood samples of these respondents. Three (15%) of the blood samples exceeded the guideline for individuals who are not occupationally exposed, while 14 (50%) of the urine samples exceeded the guideline for mercury in urine for those not exposed occupationally. The cause of these elevated levels is unknown, as only 20% of respondents indicated that they used coal as an energy carrier. Furthermore, nobody from the community was reportedly formally employed in a goldmine. Nineteen (63%) respondents consumed locally caught fish, while 20 (67%) drank water from a river. The study concluded that some individuals in this study may be occupationally exposed to mercury through small-scale gold mining activities. As primary health facilities will be the first point of entry for individuals experiencing symptoms of mercury poisoning, South African primary health care workers need to take cognisance of mercury exposure as a possible cause of neurological symptoms in patients.
Millennium Campaign calls for coherent action on trade imbalances
Joy Online: 21 September 2008
The Executive Coordinator of the Millennium Campaign has called for coherent global collaborative action to effectively deal with trade imbalances suffered by developing countries. Addressing the inaugural Geneva Trade and Development Forum at Crans-Montana, she bemoaned the current situation where developing countries are left fragmented in negotiating processes: ‘It is time to make trade policies part of the broader relationship, not just with other countries, but, more importantly part of the broader agenda of challenges of global poverty, the environment and security.’ Included in the agenda should be the issues of public health, food security and nutrition, as well as the relationships among the three.