Jamie and the Love-ites are on a quest to co-opt the debate over the growing problem of non-communicable diseases in the developing world to further their own anti-IP agenda.
Consider this new article from Intellectual Property Watch (Note – all bolded portions have been so noted by me):
Non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes now have a global reach, and are the leading cause of death, according to the World Health Organization, which describes them as an “epidemic.” Once considered problems of rich countries, they now hit low- and middle-income populations the worst, says WHO, but preventive actions could be taken. Meanwhile, civil society is warning about the lack of availability of medications to treat non-communicable diseases in developing countries.
In the battle of rhetoric, the anti-IP community has co-opted the term “civil society” for themselves. Don’t be fooled by the Mahatma-sounding moniker.
In an effort to address this, WHO will launch its Global Status Report on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) tomorrow, at its first global forum on the subject, being held in Moscow on 27 April.
The global forum brings together stakeholders to “share views and experiences to date on the challenges and opportunities” in NCDs, in particular for their prevention, treatment and control.
One of the objectives of the forum is to understand expectations, roles and contributions of different stakeholders in support of the September 2011 United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs. Another objective is to mobilise a “broader base of stakeholders in support of NCD prevention and control, in particular in developing countries,” WHO said.
And “stakeholders,” in case you were wondering, does not mean the pharmaceutical industry.
Following the global forum, the WHO is holding a first Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Noncommunicable Disease Control, co-organised with the Russian Ministry of Health, according to a WHO press release.
The conference seeks to assist an ongoing international campaign to “curb the impacts of cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic lung diseases,” and support member states’ efforts to develop policies and programmes on healthy lifestyles and NCD prevention.
Can you say, “compulsory licensing?”
The goal of the conference is to highlight the scale of NCDs and their socio-economic impact, to review international experience on prevention and control, and to provide evidence on needs to boost prevention “as part of national health plans and sustainable development frameworks.”
Can you say “Thailand?” Can you say “Brazil?”
A group of six nongovernmental organisations submitted recommendations to WHO member states prior to the meeting. They are calling for “affordable, appropriate, and good quality medicines, vaccines and diagnostics to persons suffering from NCDs in low- and middle-income countries,” according to the recommendations.
And yes – it’s the usual suspects.
Knowledge Ecology International, Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam, Third World Network, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, and Young Professionals Chronic Disease Network described a shortage of NCD medications in developing countries, even for medicines that are off-patent. Generic medicines production is threatened, they said, as developed countries are seeking to include data exclusivity in free trade agreements with developing countries.
See – they buried the lead.
In particular, they recommended safeguarding generic production as the most effective way to lower prices, and for member states to use flexibilities enshrined in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Sound familiar?
The groups also advised incentivising research and innovation, and called on countries to: adopt strategies which de-link the cost of medicines from the cost of research and development, and apply the concept of prizes as an incentive for innovation in cancer treatment. They also called for the provision of funding to study the feasibility of cancer prize funds in both developed and developing countries. And the NGOs asked for quality assurance so that medicinal products meet WHO quality standards.
Ah yes, the famous “prize” idea. The same idea that has failed everywhere it has been tried – most famously in Soviet Russia. For more on this idiocy, see here.
The complete IP Watch article can be found here.
Danger Will Robinson. Danger.
