Minutes - TRIPS Council - View details of the intervention/statement

H.E. Ambassador Lundeg Purevsuren
World Health Organization (WHO)
11 TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING

330.   We welcome the opportunity to present the technical cooperation activities of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the area of public health, innovation and intellectual property. We will just highlight a few of the activities that are contained in our annual report. 331.   The overall objective of WHO's technical cooperation is to strengthen the capacity of developing countries in the areas of health innovation, access to medicines and management of intellectual property. WHO's technical cooperation is based on its mandate derived from the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (GSPA-PHI) as well as other relevant resolutions of the World Health Assembly, including the recently approved resolution on "Improving the transparency of markets for medicines, vaccines, and other health products," WHA72.8. 332.   The Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (GSPA-PHI) was endorsed by consensus by all WHO Members. The strategy is designed to promote new thinking in innovation and access to medicines, which would encourage needs-driven research rather than purely market-driven research to target diseases which disproportionately affect people in developing countries. The eight elements of the global strategy are designed to promote innovation, build capacity, improve access and mobilize resources and includes "application and management of intellectual property to contribute to innovation and promote public health." 333.   As requested by the World Health Assembly, the WHO Secretariat will present, in 2020, a report on progress as well as an implementation plan for the coming years relating to the prioritized recommendations of an expert review panel of the GSPA-PHI. WHO's work on access to medicines, vaccines and other health products, including activities in relation to appropriate application and management of intellectual property for the period 2019−2023 is contained in The Road Map on Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Other Health Products. 334.   The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (WHO EML) and the List of Essential Diagnostics (WHO EDL) are core guidance documents that help countries prioritize critical health products that should be widely available and affordable throughout health systems. The EML has recently been reviewed and, based on current data from MedsPaL database, 11% of medicines in the revised EML are under patent protection, either primary and/or secondary patents. 335.   The 2018 WHO "Technical Report on Pricing of Cancer Medicines and its Impacts" reviews pricing approaches applied throughout the "value chain" (i.e., activities required to bring medicines to patients, from R&D to service delivery). The report presents evidence relating to the impacts of pricing approaches on the price, availability and affordability of cancer medicines. WHO will continue its efforts to biennially convene the Fair Pricing Forum with Members and all relevant stakeholders to discuss the affordability and transparency of prices and costs relating to health products. 336.   Finally, WHO will celebrate ten years of the collaboration with WTO and WIPO and will continue providing joint technical and policy support to countries in framing national policies, laws and regulations to favour application and management of intellectual property in a manner that maximizes health-related innovation and promotes access to health products to ensure progress towards Universal Health Coverage and achievement of the health-related SDGs. The next Symposium on Cutting-Edge Health Technologies will be an opportunity to discuss major scientific progress as well as the persistent inequities within and between countries and challenges to conduct needs-driven research, as well as access to and affordability of new treatments for all. 337.   You will find more information on our activities, including training workshops and technical assistance provided to countries in our report document IP/C/W/654/Add.1.

The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting.
53.   The Chair recalled that the Council had agreed, at its meeting in June 2019, to hold the annual review of technical cooperation at the present meeting. Developed-country Members had been requested to update information on their technical and financial cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. Other Members, who had also provided technical cooperation, were encouraged to share information on these activities. The Secretariat had issued an airgram on 21 June 2019 reminding developed-country Members of this request. Intergovernmental organizations, observers to the Council, and the WTO Secretariat had also been invited to provide information.
54.   The Council had received information from the following developed-country Members: Switzerland, Japan, the United States of America, Norway, Australia, and Canada. Their reports were being circulated in document IP/C/W/655 and addenda. The Council had also received an Advance Working Copy of the report from the European Union and some of its member States. It had been made available as a room document RD/IP/35, on documents online, and would also be circulated as an addendum to document IP/C/W/655 once finalized. The following intergovernmental organizations had also submitted updated information: the GCC, WHO, WCO, UNCTAD, ARIPO and WIPO. Their reports had been being circulated in document IP/C/W/654 and addenda. Updated information on the WTO Secretariat's own technical cooperation activities in the TRIPS area was available in document IP/C/W/658. He invited developed-country Members to introduce their reports on technical cooperation activities.
55.   The representatives of Canada; Japan; the European Union; the United States of America; Norway; Australia; Benin, on behalf of West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU); and Bangladesh took the floor.
56.   The Chair invited the WTO Secretariat to inform the Council of its recent technical cooperation activities.
57.   The representative of the WTO Secretariat took the floor.
58.   The Chair invited the representatives of intergovernmental organizations to introduce their reports.
59.   The representatives of the Secretariats of the WHO, GCC, WIPO, ARIPO, UNCTAD, and the WCO took the floor.
60.   The Chair noted that most of the valuable information provided by Members and IGO observers had been received only very recently; and, that most of it was, so far, available only in its original language. He suggested that Members have an opportunity, at the next meeting of the Council, to make further comments on the information submitted for the meeting.
61.   The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting.
IP/C/M/93, IP/C/M/93/Add.1