• WHO Launches Online Hearing On Innovative Funding Sources For R&D
• Bickering Continues Over Delayed Generic Drugs
• WHO Launches Online Hearing On Innovative Funding Sources For R&D
By William New @ 1:06 pm
The World Health Organization is soliciting new ideas for funding sources to stimulate research and development on diseases predominantly afflicting developing countries, with some in developed countries. The web-based public hearing, being held online from 7 March to 15 April, will contribute to an intergovernmental mandate to come up with ways to address the shortage of research in this area.
The upcoming World Health Assembly this May adopted a global strategy on the issue and the May 2008 assembly agreed parts of the plant of action under Resolution WHA61.21, including a mandate to set up a working group on financing for R&D. The R&D financing working group was created in November and met first in January, where it agreed to invite proposals from stakeholders. The group will meet again in June, and is seeking contributions from the public in advance of that meeting through the online hearing.
The web-based public hearing is open to individuals, civil society groups, government institutions, academic and research institutions, the private sector and other interested parties, WHO said. The link to the online public hearing is: http://www.who.int/phi/public?hearings/third/en/index.html
• Bickering Continues Over Delayed Generic Drugs
Health advocates continues to lock horns over recent seizures of shipments of legitimate generic pharmaceuticals passing through Europe by the Dutch authority. This was reported in our past 2 issues of eBulletin (http://www.pss.org.sg/main/component/option,com?magazine/func,show?article/id,332/Itemid,73/)
Oxfam International, Health Action International (HAI) and Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) recently issued a strongly worded statement calling on the EU to review and modify its regulations (Council Regulation [EC] No 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003) on counterfeiting that are prompting the seizures.
The groups said they “condemn the unacceptable seizure of legitimate generic antiretroviral medicines in transit from India to Nigeria by Dutch customs authorities.” The delay could have far reaching humanitarian consequences, eg. this could lead to HIV-positive patients in Africa missing “critical treatments”.
The incident has already dragged WTO Director General Pascal Lamy , and WHO Director General Margaret Chan into the spotlight. So far, no clear decisions have been made and it seems that all sides appear to be headed for more debates and horn-locking on the matter.
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