Strike While the Iron is Hot: Changing the Rules in Essential Health R&D is Urgently Needed, and is within Reach

Abstract

The view that strong intellectual property (IP) protection is necessary for drug development forms the backbone of the current health research and development paradigm. But the evidence shows how this system is fundamentally flawed. Neglected diseases, which count for 12 per cent of the disease burden, but for only 1 per cent of all drugs developed, are an example. The World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Public Health is a significant addition to this body of evidence. The report outlines how, despite ever stronger IP regimes through the implementation of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Agreement, the quality and quantity of medical innovation is declining. The report concludes that innovation is meaningless if the products developed can not be accessed by those who need them most. It calls for a global plan of action to identify mechanisms that will stimulate the discovery, development and delivery of health tools that address diseases affecting the poor. In a resolution adopted at the 2006 World Health Assembly, countries took heed of this call and committed to looking at ‘securing an enhanced and sustainable basis for needs-driven, essential health research and development relevant to diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries’. Governments, and the WHO, must not squander this opportunity.