PIJIP Receives FOSI Grant to Promote Access to Medicines Legal Training in Africa and the Former Soviet Union

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Franki Fitterer, Director of Public Relations
202-730-4621, or ffitterer@wcl.american.edu
Mike Palmedo, Assistant Director
Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
202-274-4442, or mpalmedo@wcl.american.edu
American University Washington College of Law

AU Washington College of Law’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) has been awarded a grant from the Foundation Open Society Institute, Zug (FOSI) to expand its Access to Medicines Legal Training Initiative. This grant will support the teaching of a new course on Intellectual Property, Human Rights and Access to Medicines to be held in Kiev, Ukraine, September 14-18, 2009, and the provision of technical support and assistance to the Human Rights and Access to Medicines Legal Clinic formed by PIJIP and the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights last year.

Sean Flynn, PIJIP’s Associate Director and the Principle Investigator for the project, stated:

“We are excited to have this opportunity to extend our access to medicines training project to Eastern Europe. The region is now in the midst of integrating into the World Trade Organization, including its agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), which could lead to increased medicine prices if the countries do not understand and take advantage of the agreement’s flexibilities. We are also pleased to continue our support for the Human Rights and Access to Medicines Clinic, which this year will help health advocates in Uganda analyze the potential impact of anticounterfeiting legislation on access to medicines in that country.”  

PIJIP’s Access to Medicines Legal Training Initiative conducts courses and provides technical assistance to advocates and governments in developing countries on how to promote access to affordable medicines through intellectual property “flexibilities” permitted by the World Trade Organization agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). Previous work by the Initiative has included the teaching of short courses on IP, Human Rights and Access to Medicines to LLM students and practitioners at the Universities of Pretoria and Kwazulu Natal in South Africa and to parliamentarians from 14 Southern African Countries with the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum.

Support for the Initiative has been provided by FOSI, the Open Society Institute, the United Nations Development Fund, the University of Pretoria and WCL.

For more information on PIJIP’s Access to Medicines Legal Training Initiative, see
http://wcl.american.edu/pijip/go/humanrights

The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) at the Washington College of Law promotes public interest approaches to domestic and international intellectual property law through advocacy, events and the provision of legal and consulting services.  PIJIP’s activities focus on a balanced approach to intellectual property and other legal regimes that reward creators while ensuring broad public access to information and its products.

Foundation Open Society Institute (Zug) is the autonomous Swiss branch of the Open Society Institute.  It works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, it seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights.

Download PDF of this Press Release