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On September 19-20, the UN held a High Level Meeting to develop a global strategy to fight Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), “principally cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes.” A draft resolution was developed prior to the meeting for ratification and delivery to the UN General Assembly. The U.S. lobbied for the removal of references to the 2001 Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health from the draft declaration – reference to the Doha Declaration would have reinforced that the TRIPS Agreement flexibilities regarding compulsory licenses are available to all, not only countries facing specific emergencies. The final resolution did not include the reference to the Doha Declaration, but paragraph 52 urges countries to promote access to prevention, treatment, and care “including through the full use of trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) flexibilities.”

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff defended the use of compulsory licensing for NCDs in her address to the meeting, noting that NCDs cause 72% of all nonviolent deaths of people under 70 in Brazil. Click here for more.

Sources:

• Political declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases.
• Interview with Fred Abbott in Pharmalot. “Essential Meds, Patents & NCDs: Abbott Explains.”
• Luciana Antonello Xavier. O Estado de S.Paulo. Dilma defende quebra de patentes de medicamentos em discurso na ONU. September 19, 2011.
• Bloomberg. Nestle, Glaxo Lobby UN Over Biggest ‘Epidemic’ Battle Since AIDS.
• William New for IP Watch. “Questions Arise Over UN Policy On Non-Communicable Diseases And IP Rights.” September 16, 2011.