PRESS CENTER: DOHA MINISTERIAL

PRESS CENTER
GTAC & HEALTH GAP COALITION PRESS RELEASES
Issue: WTO DECLARATION ON THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH

15 NOVEMBER 2001 (Doha) Reaction to the World Trade Organization Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. The World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference took place in Doha, Qatar November 9-14, 2001. Read the "Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health." Reaction from activists and advocates:
- "WTO Declaration on TRIPS and Health--the fight is not over" Health GAP Coalition, Act-Up Paris, ACT UP Philadelphia, ACT UP New York
- Joint Statement: Médecins Sans Frontières, OXFAM, Third World Network, Consumer Project on Technology ,Consumers International, Health Action International.
- ACT UP Paris
- Kenya Coalition for Access to Essential Medicines

11 NOVEMBER 2001 (Doha) "TRIPS: will the majority prevail?" NGO Statement on Ministerial Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health Act-Up Paris, Consumer Project on Technology, Consumers International, Health GAP Coalition, Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam, Tebtebba Foundation, Third World Network. Joint NGO Statement

19 OCTOBER 2001 U.S. refusal to break monopoly on Cipro dramatizes health risk of U.S. hard-line on patent protection--at home and in AIDS-devastated poor countries. Read Health GAP Press Statement | New York Times article

TRIPS Council Special Session on Patents and Access to Medicines

(Geneva) 27 SEPTEMBER 2001 Third World Network Report On Trips Council Special Discussion On Access To Medicines (September 19, 2001) And Trips Informal Meeting (September 21, 2001). Read Report | Read News Article

(Geneva) 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2001 Statements on the TRIPS Council Special Session on Patents and Access to Medicines and calls upon World Trade Organization (WTO) members to support developing countries' proposal to ensure that the multilateral rules on intellectual property do not harm public health. Health GAP Press Statement |Oxfam Press Statement | MSF Press Statement | ACT UP Paris Press Statement | Joint Statement by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Oxfam and Third World Network (TWN)

MATERIALS

PREPARING FOR THE WTO MINISTERIAL IN QATAR Important petition and sign-on letter below. Download materials from Health GAP:
"MYTHS AND REALITIES" addresses among other issues, the threat of dwindling Research & Development due to what Big Pharma calls "patent piracy" and the assertion that patents are not barriers to access. Download the pdf
"PATENTS AND MEDICAL APARTHEID: The WTO, Public health and access to medicines" addresses the possible Doha declaration on TRIPS and public health. Download the pdf

18 SEPTEMBER 2001 Submission of language for the WTO Ministrerial Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health by the African Group, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Peru, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Venezuela Read Submission

19 JUNE 2001 Preambular Language for Ministerial Declaration Access to Medicines for HIV/AIDS and other Pandemics submitted by United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Switzerland. Read Submission

20 JUNE 2001 Speech made by US Trade officials during previous discussion of patents and health. Download PDF file

Preparing for Qatar and WTO Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health

Health Before Wealth GLOBAL PETITION The Oxfam, Third World Network, Health Gap Coalition global petition will run through till November when it will be presented to the WTO at its meeting in Qatar. The petition calls on WTO members, in particular the United States, to demonstrate their commitment to put health before wealth by changing and clarifying global patent rules at the forthcoming WTO summit conference. Go to Petition

ACTION ALERT: FAX THE W.T.O. ACT UP Paris calls for people to fax Mike Moore, director of the WTO for refusing to reply to the joint open letter asking for a protective moratorium on legal actions before the WTO against poor countries producing or importing generic versions of drugs Action Alert | Go to Open Letter