In this newsletter from EG4H…

• WHO dropped from the Biomedical ball
• Civil Society meet in Johannesburg for a consultation on the Taskforce for Innovative Financing
• Just out! Links to the latest writing and events on economic governance for health

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• Forwarding information about EG4H to your own network of contacts and listsEncouraging people to respond to an
• EG4H request or to take up action on an event we are promoting.

If you are interested in joining this network of active campaigners, or can suggest organizations – or better still key people within those organizations – whom we should contact, please send an email to info@eg4health.org

WHO dropped from the Biomedical ball

The 62nd World Health Assembly has come and gone. What World Health Assembly, you may well ask? Yes, it was hardly seismic in its impact on the global health consciousness, was it! However, follow the link to the WHA Documents to see what was discussed while the rest of the world snoozed, and pay particular attention to the catchily titled A62/16 Add.3 – Public health, innovation and intellectual property: global strategy and plan of action Open paragraphs on stakeholders.

Sect 2.3(c) of this document lists all the stakeholders who will “encourage further exploratory discussions on the utility of possible instruments or mechanisms for essential health and biomedical R&D, including inter alia, an essential health and biomedical R&D treaty”. Notice anyone missing in the ’stakeholders’ column? Yes, the WHO has been dropped. Scroll down the WHA documents page a little further to WHA 62.16 – and there it is, signed, sealed, and delivered: the WHO will not be party to “further exploratory discussions” on a ‘Global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property’.

Developing countries were devastated: The Bolivian ambassador to the UN summarised the mood: “The treaty would have significant implications for global pharmaceutical research and development and much time, effort and hope may be lost if WHO, which is in a position to support the needs of developing countries, is not allowed to participate in bringing it to fruition…We express our disappointment that such a situation has come to pass given the diligent efforts of all….”. Not everyone was upset by this extraordinary turn of events, however.

The decision was greeted by applause, reports Intellectual Property Watch, as industry groups breathed a collective sigh of relief. Jon Pender from GSK commented: “They can now … focus everyone on implementing”. Is this what the WHO has become – an implementer of decisions made by the US and the EU, the two principle drivers of this decision? EG4H argues that WHO is uniquely placed to bring light to the murky world of Intellectual Property – a corner stone of global political economy, and we support the many NGOs – Essential Action, Health Action International, Health Gap, Knowledge Ecology International, MSF, Oxfam, and Third World Network – who oppose this retrograde step in open and accountable global health governance.

Civil Society meet in Johannesburg for a consultation on the Taskforce for Innovative Financing

The International Health Partnership Taskforce on Innovative Financing organised a two-day Civil Society consultation in Johannesburg on 13-14th May. Asked to develop recommendations on ‘Financing health systems and attainment of the health MDGs’, Civil Society groups, including Treatment Action Group, recommended the following:

1. Transparently revise funding gap estimates to ensure that they reflect the costs needed to ensure adequate human resources (quality and quantity) with improved conditions of work
2. Improve efficiency in the management of existing human resources – particularly with respect to HCW migration and tackling “allowance culture”.
3. Greatly increased investment in information systems is crucial to provide a basis for well-planned health interventions; surveillance; referral systems and M&E.
4. High-cost diseases require dedicated, disease-specific resources.
5. More resources and political will to ensure implementation of existing policies on access to healthcare.
6. Develop and promote global strategies to address major barriers to treatment access
7. Improved harmonisation and coordination to ensure alignment of community, government and donor priorities, and rational planning and resource distribution, at country level.
8. Advance and finance the creation of “social safety nets” to ensure universal access to health
9. Build capacity of CS to hold govts and donors to account.

The key messages coming out of the consultation were that the MDGs shouldn’t be pitted against each other; Maternal and Child Health was still a neglected area requiring focused financial support; MDG 6 remained seriously under-resourced; and health systems strengthening should not be at the expense of disease-specific resource allocation. Civil society groups expressed disappointment at being given executive summaries of Working Group reports rather than detailed figures, leaving question marks over just how meaningful civil society ‘consultation’ is when the detail is decided elsewhere.
Documentation of the event will be posted on the Taskforce website soon

Just out! Links to the latest writing and events on economic governance for health

Obama funding fails to wow global health community
Obama plans for US$63bn over the next six years to fight diseases in poor countries overseas represents a fall on amounts that were previously pledged. Read more…

But they are impressed with news of a new health adviser…
In what is being described as “a truly game-changing” appointment, Obama has asked Dr Paul Farmer to direct US foreign assistance for health. Read more…

Declare economic recession a ‘global health emergency’ urge Peoples’ Health Movement
The People’s Health Movement urged the World Health Organization and member governments to “declare the economic recession currently gripping the globe as a health emergency” at the WHA last week. Read more…