SEE ALSO:
> Press releases
> News archives
> Pascal
Lamy’s speeches
Held in
Geneva, this three-day °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ Workshop on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health
was part of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ technical cooperation and capacity-building activities —
“TRIPS” is “trade-related intellectual property rights”, the name used for
the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ’s intellectual property agreement.
Like the first and second workshops in September 2005 and November 2006,
this one aimed to ensure that the participants have the information
necessary so that their countries can make use of the TRIPS Agreement’s
flexibilities for public health purposes.
Among other subjects, the workshop looked at the additional flexibility
agreed by members in August 2003 and
December 2005 to allow generic
versions of patented medicines to be made under compulsory licence for
export to countries that cannot manufacture the medicines themselves,
sometimes called the “paragraph 6 system”.
Other workshops have also been held for African countries in Mauritius in
June 2006 and for the Asia Pacific region in Macao in July 2007. In
addition, the TRIPS public health flexibilities figure prominently in other
°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ national and regional technical cooperation events on the agreement.
The workshop features presentations by °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ officials, representatives of
other intergovernmental organizations such as the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), World Health Organization (WHO), Global Fund,
and UN Development Program (UNDP), representatives of non-governmental
organizations such as the International Federation of Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers (IFPMA), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and representatives of
some °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ member governments. Participants are also undertaking practical
exercises.
The participants come from: Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, the Gambia, Hong Kong
China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mali, Namibia, Peru,
Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Turkey, Vietnam and Zambia.
> Problems viewing this page?
Please contact [email protected] giving details of the operating system and web browser you are using.