From 19-21 September 2011, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) hosted Public Forum 2011, where non-profit organisations Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) and IQsensato held a joint panel session on a proposal to the WTO entitled ‘An Agreement on the Supply of Knowledge as a Global Public Good’. The session provided a space to debate the feasibility of adding the supply of public goods involving knowledge as a new category in negotiated binding commitments in international trade. Proposal advocates argue that in the wake of current high levels of knowledge protection in the form of patents, the global community faces an under-supply of public goods, including knowledge. Opening up knowledge as a public good would include developing nations that have hitherto been increasingly excluded from accessing knowledge which has been patented by multinationals and developed nations. Options include collaborative funding of inducement prizes to reward open source innovation in areas of climate change, sustainable agriculture and medicine, and agreements to fund biomedical research in areas such as new antibiotics, avian influenza and the development of an AIDS vaccine.
Health equity in economic and trade policies
The main aim of this assessment was to identify the existing occupational safety and health, working conditions, and environmental challenges in the weaving sector in Addis Ababa and their impact on productivity, quality and access to external markets. Researchers targeted women weavers in the three categories namely the micro-level weavers who weave in their homes, weavers in cooperatives and those weaving in small-scale enterprises. Respondents from all three categories reported poor working conditions and environment, and had low productivity and product quality. Weavers and owners of the small-scale enterprises were not aware of the benefits of improving working conditions, occupational safety and occupational health. Comfort in terms of the design of their workstations and ease-of-use of machinery was often not even considered by respondents to be of any importance. Most work rooms had poor light and little ventilation and were often overcrowded, as micro-level weavers shared their work space with children and other family members, all of whom are exposed to occupational hazards as well. Participants called for continuous support and especially the development of policy tools and bilingual guides for continuous improvement that would not only support their survival, but also their growth and ability to compete on local and export markets.
The workplace is an important setting for the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Policies for transformation of the workplace environment for occupational health and safety in South Africa have focused more on what to do and less on how to do it. There are no guidelines and little evidence on workplace-based interventions for NCDs. This study aimed to learn how to transform the workplace environment in order to prevent and control cardio-metabolic risk factors for NCDs amongst the workforce at a commercial power plant in Cape Town, South Africa. The study used participatory action research in the format of a cooperative inquiry group (CIG). The researcher and participants engaged in a cyclical process of planning, action, observation and reflection over a two-year period. The group used outcome mapping to define the vision, mission, boundary partners, outcomes and strategies required. At the end of the inquiry the CIG reached a consensus on their key learning. Substantial change was observed in the boundary partners: catering services (78% of progress markers achieved), sport and physical activities (75%), health and wellness services (66%) and managerial support (65%). Highlights from a 10-point consensus on key learning included the need for: authentic leadership; diverse composition and functioning of the CIG; value of outcome mapping; importance of managerial engagement in personal and organizational change; and making healthy lifestyle an easy choice. Transformation included a multifaceted approach and an engagement with the organization as a living system.
This report was developed from a platform was developed in a series of regional workshops held in Argentina, Peru, South Africa, and Thailand. Hosted by WIEGO and local partners, the workshops used a participatory approach to gather feedback and insight from representatives of domestic workers, home-based workers, street vendors, waste pickers, and others.
The platform sets out common core needs and demands for informal workers around economic, social and labour rights, voice and bargaining power, legal identity and standing, and social protection. For all informal workers, it is argued that formalization must offer benefits and protections – not simply impose the costs of becoming formal. It must restore the universal rights from which workers in the informal economy have been marginalized by the neo-liberal model of governance over the past 40 years.
This article examines the progress made in the process to lend more flexibility to the TRIPS Agreement for medical drugs, and shows how the Doha Declaration and the 2003 Decision of the TRIPS Board on the implementation of its paragraph 6 are insufficient to ensure a reduction in prices and the negotiation of voluntary licenses.
A protocol amending the WTO TRIPS Agreement that would enable developing countries with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector to import cheaper generic medicines produced under compulsory licencing came into force on Monday, 23 January. The annex to the protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement contains a new Article which contains five paragraphs on the obligations of exporting Members in relation to compulsory licences, AND the modification of obligations to the extent necessary to enable a pharmaceutical product produced or imported under a compulsory licence to other countries within a regional trade agreement. "This is an extremely important amendment. It gives legal certainty that generic medicines can be exported at reasonable prices to satisfy the needs of countries with no pharmaceutical production capacity, or those with limited capacity," said WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo. Ambassador Modest Mero of Tanzania, Chair of the TRIPS Council, underlined the importance of the entry into force of the first-ever amendment of the multilateral agreements administered by the WTO but also a concrete response by trade ministers to address the concerns in the area of public health.
The Doha Declaration on the TRIPs Agreement and Public Health (2001), aimed at improving access to medicines, especially for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in developing and least developed countries, has not yet been used for compulsory licences to import generic medicines or for expanding production for export to poor countries. By analysing HIV/AIDS treatment in Uganda, this article discusses the variety of TRIPs-related channels for ensuring drugs for domestic treatment, and argues that emphasising the restrictive nature of TRIPs provisions fails to grasp the scale of the obstacles involved. Lack of domestic resources leaves African countries dependent on donor financing, which in turn constrains their ability to exploit international trade provisions.
Following the full implementation of the TRIPS Agreement in 2005 in India and the few other developing countries not yet granting pharmaceutical patents, access to new drugs may be expected to become more difficult, states this briefing paper from Doctors without Borders. "All new drugs may be subject to at least 20 years of patent protection in all but the least developed countries and the occasional non-WTO country such as Somalia, Palestine, and Macedonia. As this will affect producers in key manufacturing countries, such as India, and other countries that are dependent on India for raw materials, it will keep prices up and will likely make new medicines inaccessible for the majority of the population in developing and least developed countries. Generic producers will also be blocked from developing fixed-dose combinations until the relevant patents on the individual components of the combinations expire."
There are acute disparities in pharmaceutical access between developing and industrialized countries. Developing countries make up approximately 80% of the world's population but only represent approximately 20% of global pharmaceutical consumption. Among the many barriers to drug access are the potential consequences of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. Many developing countries have recently modified their patent laws to conform to the TRIPS standards, given the 2005 deadline for developing countries.
The World Trade Organisation's Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (known as the Doha Declaration) of 2001, and subsequent Decision on the Interpretation of Paragraph 6 reached in 2003, affirmed the flexibilities available under the Agreement on Trade Related Property Rights (TRIPS) to member states seeking to protect public health. Despite these important clarifications, the actual implementation of these measures to improve access to medicines remains uncertain. There are also concerns that so-called TRIPS-plus measures within many regional and bilateral trade agreements are further undermining the capacity of the poor to access affordable medicines.