Dr Carlos Maria Correa, an Argentinian economist and lawyer, is globally renowned for his expertise on international trade, intellectual property, health, technology transfer, investment policy and especially their impact on developing countries. He has authored several books and academic articles and been a visiting professor at several universities. Additionally, he has consulted with many United Nations agencies, the World Bank, and other regional and international organisations and has advised several governments on intellectual property, innovation policy and public health. Correa was a member of the UK Commission on Intellectual Property, of the Commission on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Public Health established by the World Health Assembly and of the FAO Panel of Eminent Experts on Ethics in Food and Agriculture. Currently, he is the Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies on Industrial Property and Economics Law, at the University of Buenos Aires. He takes over as the Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Geneva-based South Centre from 1 July 2018. Correa recently engaged in an interview with Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch. [Note: this interview is number two of two. The first, with Dr Othoman Mellouk, is available here.] Continue reading ->
Dr Othoman Mellouk is a Moroccan treatment advocate who has been working on intellectual property and access to medicines for more than a decade. He is the Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines Lead at the international treatment preparedness coalition (ITPC), a global network of people living with HIV and their advocates working together to achieve access to HIV and Viral Hepatitis and a member of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Committee on HIV and Hepatitis. Dr Mellouk started off in the Association for the Fight against AIDS which has been at the forefront of the response to HIV in Morocco and the introduction of the first anti-HIV generic medicines in the country. In a series supported by the Make Medicines Affordable organisation, Mellouk recently engaged in an interview with Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch. Continue reading ->
Following the South African government's recent approval of a new intellectual property policy that includes elements aimed at preserving access to medical products that are increasing in popularity among developing countries, the research-based pharmaceutical industry had a few general comments. The message: the policy incorporates some of their concerns but is wrong on "evergreening" patents, and could harm industry, which is "the goose that lays the golden egg." Continue reading ->
A hundred years ago, the Spanish flu infected a third of the world population, and killed more people than the two world wars combined. The World Health Organization is seeking to help the world prepare for the next pandemic, which they say, is only waiting to happen. The recent World Health Assembly agreed to ask the WHO to complete an analysis on the implications of including seasonal influenza virus and pandemic virus genetic information into its benefit-sharing mechanism to help the world face the next influenza pandemic. Separately, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) issued a study on how to handle virus genetic information, and voiced preference for publicly accessible databases for sharing this information, rather than public domain databases, as the latter raise issue of traceability of the information from originators and also from users. And a WHO official issued a call for WHO member states to become involved in activities of the CBD's Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit-sharing to ensure health priorities are put before environmental priorities on genetic resources. Continue reading ->