World Health Day 2023 - IP and Health for All
April 4, 2023
On the 7th of April we celebrate World Health Day!
This year’s theme is “Health for All”, simultaneously observing World Health Day and the 75th birthday of the World Health Organization (WHO). Seventy-five years is a good time to take stock of achievements and challenges, and to spur further action to tackle the health challenges of today – and tomorrow. But what are the big challenges, preventing or slowing down universal access to the full range of quality health services and technologies whenever and wherever they’re needed, also referred to as “Universal Health Coverage”?
World Health Day provides a good opportunity for WIPO’s Global Health team to examine what we at WIPO do to accelerate health for all. Scientific and technological innovation contributes to important advances in public health. However, new technologies can take a long time to reach people in low- and middle-income countries. How does intellectual property (IP) help address this?
WIPO’s Global Health Team raises awareness and understanding of the complex linkages among global health, innovation, and access to medical technologies, with the goal of leveraging IP as a tool that contributes not only to innovation in the health space, but equally as important, to equitable access to the fruits of that innovation.
Amy Dietterich, Director, Global Challenges Division
WIPO’s work at the intersection of IP and Global Health
WIPO’s Global Health program implements activities and partnerships to demonstrate the contribution of IP and innovation to addressing global health challenges. This includes commissioning a series of research papers and studies on the impact of the different forms of IP on access to medical technologies during COVID-19. We also convene events with global health stakeholders to discuss key issues at the intersection of IP and health. In 2022, WIPO launched ‘Dialogues on Intellectual Property and Health’ - a series of discussions with experts and international organizations working in the health sector. These discussions aim to strengthen WIPO’s relationship with, and support to, international organizations and their efforts to address global health challenges. The first event in the series addressed questions around Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for Life Sciences. Participants exchanged ideas about how to settle life science disputes outside of courts, which could help to reduce the time it takes to bring new products and technologies to market. At the second event, Technology Transfer Programs and Resources were discussed and at the most recent installment participants discussed WIPO’s technology transfer resources in the field of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
Trilateral Cooperation
The World Health Organization (WHO), WIPO and the World Trade Organization (WTO) cooperate on issues at the intersection of public health, IP and trade, with the aim of strengthening their practical coordination around these topics.
In 2020, the three organizations published the 2nd edition of the trilateral study Promoting Access to Medical Technologies and Innovation. It provides several practical examples and case studies on different ways the intersection of health, trade and IP can influence medical innovation and access to medical technologies. The COVID-19 information note, completed as an extract from the 2nd edition of the Trilateral Study, aims to map the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the integrated health, trade and intellectual property policy framework set out in the Trilateral Study.
Since 2021, the Directors General of the trilateral agencies agreed to enhance their support to members battling the pandemic by collaborating on a series of workshops to augment the flow of information on COVID-19 response options. In 2021 and 2022, three capacity-building workshops were held: Technology Transfer and Licensing , Information Resources for the Pandemic Response and Innovation and Access to Diagnostics, more are planned for 2023.
In April 2022, the three agencies launched the COVID-19 Technical Assistance Platform, a one-stop shop for technical assistance relating to COVID-19 medical technologies for Members and WTO accession candidates.
Annual joint technical trilateral symposia are also organized around different topical issues. The 2022 trilateral symposium hosted at WIPO was entitled Pandemic Response, Preparedness, Resilience.
Communications
In 2022, WIPO launched the “Mission Imagination” interview series of conversations with leading global experts whose work touches on IP. WIPO’s Global Health Team hosts conversations with leading health experts working to improve public health and innovation systems. Previous episodes featured Dr. Peter Hotez, who led the development of Corbevax – an affordable and accessible “patent free” COVID-19 vaccine - and Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO Of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Most recently, WIPO spoke with Dr. Patrick Tippoo, Chief Science and Innovation Officer at South Africa-based Biovac.
The Global Health team also creates regular news items and articles on topical subjects, most recently on Femtech. The bi-monthly Global Health Check-up newsletter brings news and developments at the interface of global health, innovation and intellectual property. Be sure to subscribe!
What’s next?
The global health team is embarking on a number of strategic partnership projects to demonstrate that when managed effectively, IP is an enabler for access to health technologies. Addressing health equity challenges will depend on harnessing the innovative and creative capacities of all people. Maintaining a balanced global IP system will contribute to an innovation ecosystem that ensures access to health technologies for all.
