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| WTO Documents and Proposed Solutions to Paragraph Six Problem |
"4. We agree that the TRIPS Agreement does not and should not prevent members from taking measures to protect public health. Accordingly, while reiterating our commitment to the TRIPS Agreement, we affirm that the Agreement can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO members' right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all."In this connection, we reaffirm the right of WTO members to use, to the full, the provisions in the TRIPS Agreement, which provide flexibility for this purpose."
"This covers at least HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, yellow fever, plague, cholera, meningococcal disease, African trypanosomiasis, dengue, influenza, leishmaniasis, hepatitis, leptospirosis, pertussis, poliomyelitis, schistosomiasis, typhoid fever, typhus, measles, shigellosis, haemorrhagic fevers and arboviruses. When requested by a Member, the World Health Organization shall give its advice as to the occurrence in an importing Member, or the likelihood thereof, of any other public health problem."
"This decision applies to public health problems arising from yellow fever, plague, cholera, meningococcal disease, African trypanosomiasis, dengue, influenza, HIV/AIDS, leishmaniasis, TB, malaria, hepatitis, leptospirosis, pertussis, poliomyelitis, schistosomiasis, typhoid fever, typhus, measles, shigellosis, haemorrhagic fevers, and arbovirues and other epidemics of comparable gravity and scale including those that might arise in the future whether due to natural occurrence, accidental release or deliberate use."
| Scope of Diseases Covered in Other Public Health Fora |
| World Health Organization Definition of "Health" |
3. The WHO defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". "Public health" refers to all organized measures (whether public or private) to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life of the population as a whole. Good health for all populations is an accepted international development goal and one building block for sustainable economic development, which is a goal both the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization are working towards.
| World Health Organization Documents Concerning Diseases and Conditions Not Included in the Proposed Restrictive Scope |
The scale of the problem that diabetes poses to world health is still widely under recognized. Recent estimates predict that if current trends continue the number of persons with diabetes will more than double, from 140 million to 300 million in the next 25 years. The greater proportion of the increase is likely to occur in the developing countries, which are the communities which can least afford it.
Between 100 and 150 million people around the globe -- roughly the equivalent of the population of the Russian Federation -- suffer from asthma and this number is rising. World-wide, deaths from this condition have reached over 180,000 annually...Because asthma is a chronic condition, it usually requires continuous medical care. Patients with moderate to severe asthma have to take long-term medication daily (for example, anti-inflammatory drugs) to control the underlying inflammation and prevent symptoms and attacks. If symptoms occur, short-term medications (inhaled short-acting beta2-agonists) are used to relieve them.
The World Health Organization (WHO) finds that more than 12 million people die each year as a result of heart disease and strokes, according to an October 17 press release. About half of those deaths could be prevented with wider availability of drugs and greater promotion of healthy lifestyles and preventive health care, the report says.
Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are one of the commonest causes of death in children in developing countries. Almost all ARI deaths in young children in developing countries are due to pneumonia. The WHO Programme for the Control of Acute Respiratory Infections has focused on the case management of pneumonia in an attempt to reduce mortality from acute lower respiratory infections. The WHO Programme also recognizes that the clinical presentation of wheeze (usually due to either bronchiolitis or asthma) has considerable overlap with that of pneumonia. There is a need to identify children with pneumonia, to ensure that they will receive antibiotic therapy and to identify children with wheeze whose drug treatment will include a bronchodilator...
Noncommunicable diseases such as cardio-vascular diseases, cancer and diabetes are clearly on the increase in African countries. According to the WHO Regional Office for Africa, if this situation is not contained, sixty percent of deaths in the Region by the year 2020 will be caused by NCDs, compared to forty-one percent in 1990.
Cancer rates could further increase by 50% to 15 million new cases in the year 2020, according to the World Cancer Report...In the year 2000, malignant tumours were responsible for 12 per cent of the nearly 56 million deaths worldwide from all causes. In many countries, more than a quarter of deaths are attributable to cancer. In 2000, 5.3 million men and 4.7 million women developed a malignant tumour and altogether 6.2 million died from the disease. The report also reveals that cancer has emerged as a major public health problem in developing countries, matching its effect in industrialized nations.
| Comments from Medical Groups and Doctors |
| Selected NGO Statements on Scope |
| Government and International Documents |
| Statistics |
| Misc. |
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