UN panel to shine

As part of a global dialogue, a UN panel is meeting in Johannesburg to discuss proposals that aim to help prevent millions of unnecessary deaths. Millions of people continue to die from diseases that we have cures for or the ability to prevent, said the director-general for health.

Mail & Guardian, 17 March 2016

 But all stakeholders to need be united around new solutions, Precious Matsoso said. She said being able to get affordable medicines and the development of new innovations "are critical to saving lives", especially in Africa where countries are often under-resourced and where many drugs "remain out of reach". Matsoso is one of 16 people who will be at the meeting, convened by UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon in November to address the policy incoherence between intellectual property laws and access to health.

The panel, which includes the former presidents of Botswana and Switzerland, Festus Gontebanye Mogae and Ruth Dreifuss, called for submissions from stakeholders from any field in December in preparation for two global dialogues - the first of which was held in London on March 10. Thursday's meeting is the second. Mandeep Dhaliwal, who heads up the UN Developmental Programme's HIV portfolio, said among the core reasons for holding two dialogues in different regions of the world was to have a global and diverse discussion.

He said access to medicines, diagnostics and vaccines are issues that affect people in every country. The topic will be the same as the one in London, but the Johannesburg meeting "may deal more with the struggle that revolves around the current focus on pharmaceutical sales and the lack of production of health technologies for diseases that do not impact countries with major pharmaceutical capabilities", said Dhaliwal. Based on these global dialogues, along with more than 170 shortlisted submissions and consultations, the panel will finalise a report to present to the secretary general in June.

The panel said the report is intended to be "an evidence-informed, rights-based analysis of proposals and recommendations to promote the development and production of health technologies in a way that balances trade, human rights and public health". Judit Rius Sanjuan, from Médecins Sans Frontières, which has contributed a detailed submission, said the mandate of the panel is "unprecedented and a potentially historical opportunity" for public health.

She said it is the first time the secretary-general (or any forum) has asked to look at the challenges given because of the limited access to affordable medicines and the innovation needs of all patients (in developed and developing countries). Matsoso said the panel hoped to put forward to Ban "recommendations that are bold and effective and that will, more than ever, increase every human's right to health and wellbeing".