South Centre News on AMR, 7 August 2017
SOUTH CENTRE NEWS ON AMR is a service of the South Centre to provide news and information on issues relating to Antimicrobial Resistance.
Social Development
Analytical Note, July 2017
The WTO’s Fisheries Subsidies Negotiations
Attempts are made to revitalise the fisheries subsidies negotiations at the WTO with the aim of achieving an outcome at the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference in December 2017.
DIIP Monthly Update – July 2017
This update provides a snapshot of the activities of the Development, Innovation and Intellectual Property Programme during the month of July 2017.
Research Paper 62R, July 2017
Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Increasing the Barriers for the Access to Affordable Medicines (revised)
Most free trade agreements (FTAs) signed by the United States, the European Union and the members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in the last 15 years contain chapters on intellectual property rights with provisions applicable to pharmaceuticals. Such provisions considerably expand the rights recognized to pharmaceutical companies under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) established in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO). (more…)
Research Paper 78, July 2017
Intellectual Property, Public Health and Access to Medicines in International Organizations
This South Centre research paper by Dr. German Velasquez describes and analyses the mandate, programmes, strategies, and activities that different international organizations such as WHO, WTO, WIPO, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNAIDS, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel (UNHLP) on access to medicines have undertaken on the subject of access to medicines, intellectual property, international trade rules and human rights.
DIIP Monthly Update – June 2017
This update provides a snapshot of the activities of the Development, Innovation and Intellectual Property Programme during the month of June 2017.
Statement, July 2017
South Centre Statement to the 26th Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP)
The 26th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) is meeting this week at the WIPO headquarters in Geneva. The South Centre is participating in the current session of the SCP as an observer. The following statement was delivered by the South Centre on the first day of the current session of the SCP.
Statement, May 2017
South Centre Statement to the 10th NAM Health Ministerial
Below is a statement made by the South Centre’s Deputy Executive Director Vicente Paolo B. Yu III during the meeting of the Ministers of health of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Geneva on 23 May 2017 in conjunction with the World Health Assembly.
Research Paper 77, May 2017
Access to Hepatitis C Treatment: A Global Problem
“Viral hepatitis is an international public health challenge, comparable to other major communicable diseases, including HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Despite the significant burden it places on communities across all global regions, hepatitis has been largely ignored as a health and development priority until recently”. – WHO, Global Health Sector strategy on viral Hepatitis 2016-2021: Towards ending viral hepatitis
Research Paper 75, March 2017
Implementing Farmers’ Rights Relating to Seeds
The concept of Farmers’ Rights recognized the role of farmers as custodians of biodiversity and helped to draw attention to the need to preserve practices that are essential for sustainable agriculture. This paper examines one particular aspect of such rights, perhaps the most controversial. It deals with the component of farmers’ rights referring to the use, exchange and sale of farm-saved seeds. Although that concept was initially introduced in 1989 with the aim of balancing the rights of farmers as breeders and of commercial plant breeders, a specific reference to the rights relating to seeds was only introduced upon the conclusion of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in 2001.
Policy Brief 39, May 2017
Highlights of the WHO Executive Board: 140th Session
The World Health Assembly (WHA), the highest body of the World Health Organization, will be meeting from 22-31 May 2017.
Earlier in January, the Executive Board of the WHO met and discussed on various strategic issues that will be carried forward to the WHA.
In this light, the South Centre has prepared a timely summary report in the form of a policy brief of the discussions that took place at the EB, to assist delegates and other stakeholders in their preparation for the discussions in the WHA.
SouthViews No. 147, 20 April 2017
Reflections on World Health Day
By Martin Khor
What’s the most precious thing in the world which unfortunately we take for granted and realise it true value when it is impaired? Good health, of course. That’s something many people must have reminded themselves as they celebrated World Health Day on 7 April. Attaining good health and well-being may be a top priority goal, but achieving it is elusive for almost everyone, and next to impossible for the poor. (more…)