WHO to WIPO: Having wonderful time. Glad you're not here.

  • by: |
  • 02/08/2008
According to reports in the Bangkok Post, the World Health Organization led a mission (at the request of the new Thai government) to Bangkok to formulate a report on compulsory licensing and to provide technical advice on various aspects of TRIPS.

But the WHO team is likely to provide more than just “technical” assistance considering that the WHO’s new chief IP official is anti-industry ideologue German Velasquez.

Consider the article Velasquez penned in Le Monde diplomatique not so diplomatically entitled “Unhealthy Profits,”

“After Doha, it is clear that if drugs are considered as goods, health will remain an extension of the market, with remedies and treatments available only to those with enough purchasing power.”

Here’s a link to the complete article (in English):

http://mondediplo.com/2003/07/10velasquez

And here’s another reason to consider the WHO Bangkok mission as slanted -- there wasn’t a single representative from WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organization).

Hello?

This is Geneva bureaucratic politics at its worst – and blatant disregard for the spirit of international cooperation in both protecting intellectual property rights and advancing public health.
CMPI

Center for Medicine in the Public Interest is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization promoting innovative solutions that advance medical progress, reduce health disparities, extend life and make health care more affordable, preventive and patient-centered. CMPI also provides the public, policymakers and the media a reliable source of independent scientific analysis on issues ranging from personalized medicine, food and drug safety, health care reform and comparative effectiveness.

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