Digital Rights Network

Report is available at http://www.who.int/intellectualproperty/documents/thereport/en/index.html

The following is the summary of the report provided by the WHO as part of their FAQ

6. What does the report say?

Intellectual property rights are a general incentive provided by governments to promote innovation in all fields. In respect of public health, they are embedded in a set of other incentives which influence the pattern of innovation. They need to be looked at as part of a bigger picture.

I have just written an overview of the Medical Innovation Convention. This is a draft international treaty, originally proposed by Jamie Love (CpTech) and Tim Hubbard (Sanger institute), that would provide for a new global framework for medical innovation. The current system, heavily based on TRIPs and ever stronger intellectual property rights, is in crisis, failing to deliver not only for developing countries but also, increasingly for high-income nations. Read the overview here.