# 2547
Via Intellectual Property Watch, a `non-profit independent news service, reports on the interests and behind-the-scenes dynamics that influence the design and implementation of international intellectual property policies', we get a synopsis by Kaitlin Mara of the progress made at last week's Intergovernmental Meeting on Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (IGM).
As readers of this blog no doubt know, Indonesia is claiming IP (Intellectual Property) rights on viruses that emerge from within their borders, and believe that they should control their distribution and use.
Indonesia has refused to `share' virus samples until guarantees are made that they will be provided with vaccines, made from these samples, at an affordable price.
Additionally, Indonesia has been slow to report human cases of H5N1 infection - preferring to provide aggregate totals every few months instead of real-time reporting.
This dispute has disrupted the sharing of virus samples from Indonesia for two years, creating a dangerous blind spot for scientists hoping to detect mutations in the virus.
This report indicates that significant progress has been made, although `major issues' remain unresolved. Many of the most contentious obstacles, including Intellectual Property (IP) issues, are reportedly `still on the table'.
As for whether any of this means a resumption of virus and information sharing from Indonesia, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.
Intellectual Property Watch
15 December 2008
Last-Minute Progress Made On Pandemic Flu; More Still To Come
Posted by Kaitlin Mara @ 3:09 pm
By Kaitlin Mara
Significant strides were made at last week’s World Health Organization meeting on pandemic influenza preparedness, as assembled delegates searched for - and found - a way to satisfy member states’ differing views on the need for access to viruses and related biological materials and the need for access to vaccines and other benefits. Yet still-contentious issues - including intellectual property rights and definitions - remain unresolved, with delegates hoping informal intersessional work will facilitate the search for consensus when the meeting resumes next May.
The compromise text found on virus and benefit sharing reads: “Recognise that member states have a commitment to share on an equal footing H5N1 and other influenza viruses of human pandemic potential and the benefits considering these as equally important parts of the collective action for global public health.”
The drafting of this language was seen as a key success of the 8-13 December WHO Intergovernmental Meeting on Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (IGM).
Earlier versions of the phrasing had involved debates over “voluntary” versus “mandatory” frameworks, and had not been able to bring consensus. But informal discussions between key member states - mainly Indonesia and the United States - produced mutually acceptable language that was widely hailed as one of the key steps forward in this meeting.
The connection between virus and benefit sharing had been a “bone of contention” between the two states, said Abdulsalam Nasidi, director of public health in Nigeria.
The commitment language was “a breakthrough,” said another delegate. But intellectual property rights issues are “still pending,” the delegate said, and will be difficult as the positions on them represent two opposite visions.
Intellectual property is “another tough issue,” said Widjaja Lukito, advisor to the Indonesian minister on health and public policy, one that was “too big” to get into at this meeting. But he added that achieving benefit sharing was an initial priority and finding compromise in that regard represented significant progress.
This meeting essentially “avoided [the IP issues] in recognition of how contentious they are,” said a developed country delegate. But the issue will have to be addressed in a standard material transfer agreement for the movement of biological materials, a key outcome of the IGM that has yet to be finalised, the delegate added.
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