Presentation by Dr. Fiona Adshead (Director, Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, WHO) at the International Alliance of Patient Organization's Patient Workshop: working effectively with the WHO.  This workshop, organized by World Health Advocacy, was held on May 18, 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland prior to the 2009 World Health Assembly.

The Journal of Globalization and Health recently published an interesting article entitled “Benefits of global partnerships to facilitate access to medicines:  a multi-country analysis of patients and patient outcomes in GIPAP.” The article concludes that The Glivec International Assistance Program (GIPAP) has a significant positive effect on patient access to important medicines for a life threatening condition such as Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.

It is encouraging that multinational pharmaceutical companies are continuing to invest significantly in research into neglected diseases.

Confusion in the EU over whether or not some ‘generic’ drugs intended for the developing world are in violation of intellectual property laws have led to numerous delays and seizures at ports and airports around the region.   Most recently a shipment of 1.74mn tablets of a generic antiplatelet drug—a drug that reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks due to blood clots—en route to Venezuela from India was seized by French custom’s officials on suspicion of patent infringement.  Just one month prior French agents seized another shipment of 740,000 tablets of the heart medicine Clopidogrel—Plavix—, again originating from India.  It has been reported that there have been at least 18 seizures of Indian drugs shipments in the EU this year.