On 11th May Stop AIDS Societies Coordinator, Katy Athersuch and President of KCL Stop AIDS Society, Becky Khor traveled to Geneva to meet with Health Activists and Campaigners from around the world to discuss the urgent issues coming up at the World Health Assembly this month. Top on the list to discuss was the recent use of the TRIPS flexibilities by Thailand and Brazil to import affordable generic anti-AIDS drugs to treat people living with HIV and AIDS in those countries. The Minister of Health for Thailand spoke at the conference, expressing his gratitude to civil society for campaigning in support of the government’s move to protect public health. Becky Khor spoke in person to the Minister assuring him that student campaigners in the UK were fighting the cause for Universal Access to Treatment. Several resolutions being proposed at the World Health Assembly sought to renew commitment to the TRIPS flexibilities and increase access to treatment.

Pressure on the Thai government to drop its legitimate use of the TRIPS flexibilities escalated in early May when the US government announced that it had placed Thailand on its ‘priority watch list’ on the grounds that it had shown ‘a lack of transparency in its dealings with Merck and Abbott Laboratories’. Countries fear being put on the US priority watch list as this is often accompanied by trade retaliation and increased tension in the country’s relationship with the US. However, at the conference in Geneva James Love of Knowledge Ecology International reassured the Thai government that research demonstrated that the higher up the US priority watch list a country is the better it scores on the Human Development Index. Thailand should in this case rest assured that its actions to protect public health will pay off.

The 59th World Health Assembly (WHA) of the 192 member states of the WHO closed on 23rd May after a week and a half of intense lobbying and politicking. One resolution in support of TRIPS flexibilities and access to medicines was finally passed by the close of the meeting. All countries reached agreement, with the USA being the sole country that chose to voice its dissent. The USA’s increasing diplomatic isolation on this issue was demonstrated as no other country chose to follow it.

The resolution is encouragingly strong in that it specifically states that the WHO must provide technical and policy support to countries to use the TRIPS flexibilities (such as Thailand and Brazil’s recent compulsory licences); and it asks the WHO to address the fundamental problems of high drug prices caused by the reliance on patents for Research and development.

To view the full text of the resolution click here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Campaign News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.