African NGO Forum Passes Resolution on the Right to Access to Needed Medicines

by: Sean Flynn - November 10, 2008 10:48 AM

A resolution calling on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to recognize human rights to access needed medicines was passed by at a meeting of African Human Rights organizations in Abuja, Nigeria, on November 10. The resolution calls on the Commission to recognize duties to respect, protect and fulfill rights to access to medicines, including by taking “full advantage of all flexibilities in the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property that promote access to affordable medicines.”

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Final Draft Resolution: Right to Access Needed Medicines

by: Karolina Lyznik - November 4, 2008 11:24 AM

We invite your comments on the final draft resolution on human rights and access to medicines in Africa, which will be presented for consideration to the NGO Forum meeting in Abuja (Nigeria) November 8, 2008, on the occasion of the 44th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission). The resolution requests the African Commission to adopt a resolution recognizing the human right to access to needed medicines and clarifying the duties imposed by the right.

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Trade, Human Rights and Development

Many of PIJIP’s projects involve issues at the intersection of intellectual property’s relation to trade, human rights and development interests of developing countries. PIJIP advises governments, intergovernmental organizations, and non-profit organizations on implementation of the WTO agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as well as on the negotiation and implementation of intellectual property provisions of Free Trade Agreements. With the support of major foundations, PIJIP has hosted, and PIJIP routinely participates in, numerous international workshops and conferences on intellectual property and trade issues that are particularly relevant to developing countries. PIJIP faculty perform academic analyses of trade, human rights and development issues.

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• PIJIP Webpage on Human Rights and Access to Medicine

Selected Reports

• Holzapfel, Henrik and Sarnoff, Joshua D., "A Cross-Atlantic Dialog on Experimental Use and Research Tools" (August 5, 2007).
• Final Report of the UK Commission on Intellectual Property Rights (2002)
• UN Conference on Trade and Development/International Conference on Trade and Sustainable Development Resource Book on TRIPS and Development
• Report of the World Health Organization Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health

Student Work Product (research papers produced by students in WCL's new course - Advanced Issues in IP: Human Rights and Development)

• Youssef Brahim, The Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions in the Maghreb Countries, April 29, 2007
• Jorge Calderón Gamboa, Protecting Traditional Knowledge for Indigenous Peoples: The Effectiveness of International Human Rights Remedies, April 30, 2007
• Bach V. Hoang, Intellectual Property’s Influence on Technology Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technology to China’s Energy Market, April 29, 2007
• Mihir Mankad, Goats Can’t Dance: Ethiopia’s Battle with Starbucks over Coffee Trademarks, April 29, 2007
• Deepa Padmanabha, Stimulating R&D for Dengue Fever: Not Just Another Neglected Disease, April 30, 2007
• Munmeeth K. Soni, Enforcing Farmers’ Rights on Uncharted Territory: The Role of IPRS for Development in India, April 30, 2007

Statements and Proposals for a WIPO Development Agenda

• Geneva Declaration on the Future of the World Intellectual Property Organization
• Proposal by Argentina and Brazil for the Establishment of a Development Agenda for WIPO
• Statement by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) at the 2004 WIPO General Assembly
• Statement by the International Federation of Library Associations at the 2004 WIPO General Assembly

Legal Texts

World Trade Agreement Texts

• Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
• Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health
• Implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and public health
• Decision on the Amendment of the TRIPS Agreement

Historical Intellectual Property Treaties

• Paris Convention on for the Protection of Intellectual Property (1883)
• Berne Convention for the Protection of Artistic and Literary Works (1886)

Human Rights Treaties

• UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

U.S. Legal Documents

• Executive Order 13155: Access to HIV/AIDS Pharmaceuticals and Medical Technologies
• Special Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974

Events

• Information Session on the World Health Organization's Global Strategy of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property. October 10, 2007. Public hearing held at the US Department of Health and Human Servcies. Notes y PIJIP, Knowledge Ecology International, and Medicins Sans Frontieres.
• ILSP Anniversary Panel on Traditional Knowledge, March 27, 2007.
  In conjunction with the ILSP’s 25th Anniversary Celebrations, PIJIP will sponsor a panel on the relation between traditional knowledge and the development and human rights promotion interests of developing countries.
• Conference on IP, FTAs and Sustainable Development, 2006
  Faculty, outside experts, advocates from countries which have recently entered into trade agreements with the US, and advocates from countires currently negotiating trade agreements with the US discuss the intellectual property provisions and their effect on development.

Partners

• Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
• Knowledge Ecology International
• Third World Network
• Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa
• Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental

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Photo of woman working no loom by Peter Jaszi.  Photo of the UN building by Ashitakka.