10 Asian countries support global treaty on R&D

5 December 2006
FromGeneva
Thiru Balasubramaniam

On day 2 of the WHO Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property, the delegate from Thailand, on behalf of the WHO South East Asian Region (Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste) indicated the SEARO region's support for a global treaty on R&D. He noted that the global health community needed a sustainable funding mechanism for upstream research. The delegate from Thailand made reference to paragraph 18 of A/PHI/IGWG/1/2 (Review of recommendations of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health) which states

Recognizing the need for an international mechanism to increase global coordination and funding of medical research and development, the sponsors of the treaty proposal on medical research and development should undertake further work to develop these ideas so that government and policy-makers may make an informed decision.