International agreements

WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action

Important documents related to the World Health Organization Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property.

The final WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action

CIPIH Report which discusses UAEM policies

KEI resources on IGWG

KEI Link to Bolivia and Barbados prize proposals

Download our IGWG II bis position document here

UAEM blog posts related to IGWG

Elements of IGWG Global Strategy Particularly Relevant to UAEM

Below are the elements of the global strategy developed by the World Health Organization Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property whose implementation UAEM has primarily focused its efforts on.

(2.2) promoting upstream research and product development in developing countries
(a) support discovery science, including where feasible and appropriate, voluntary open-source methods, in order to develop a sustainable portfolio of new products
(b) promote and improve accessibility to compound libraries through voluntary means, provide technical support to developing countries and promote access to drug leads identified through the screening of compound libraries

(2.4) Promoting greater access to knowledge and technology relevant to meet public health needs of developing countries
(a) promote the creation and development of accessible public health libraries in order to enhance availability and use of relevant publications by universities, institutes and technical centers, especially in developing countries (consensus)
(b) promote public access to the results of government funded research, by strongly encouraging that all investigators funded by governments submit to an open access database an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscript
(c) support the creation of voluntary open databases and compound libraries including voluntary provision of access to drug leads identified through the screening of such compound libraries
(d) encourage the further development and dissemination of publicly or donor-funded medical inventions and know-how through appropriate licensing policies, including but not limited to open licensing, that enhance access to innovations for development of products of relevance to the public health needs of developing countries on reasonable, affordable and non-discriminatory terms
(e) consider, where appropriate, use of a “research exception” to address public health needs in developing countries consistent with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

(4.3) developing possible new mechanisms to promote transfer of and access to key health-related technologies
(a) examine the feasibility of voluntary patent pools of upstream and downstream technologies to promote innovation of and access to health products and medical devices
(b) explore and, if feasible, develop possible new mechanisms to promote transfer of and access to key health-related technologies of relevance to public health needs of developing countries especially on Type II and III diseases and the specific R&D needs of developing countries in respect of Type I diseases, which are consistent with the provisions of the TRIPS agreement and instruments related to that agreement, which provide flexibilities to take measures to protect public health.

(5.1) supporting information sharing and capacity building in the application and management of intellectual property with respect to health related innovation and the promotion of public health in developing countries (consensus)
(a) encourage and support the application and management of intellectual property in a manner that maximizes health-related innovation and promotes access to health products and that is consistent with the provisions in the TRIPS Agreement and other WTO instruments related to that agreement and meets the specific R&D needs of developing countries