Devex: At anti-tobacco conference, a race to beat industry tactics “When they take their seats at the World Health Organization’s tobacco-control meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, this week, delegates [to the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties] should keep a keen eye out for unsavory tactics by the tobacco…

Devex: ‘Tax for TRIPS’ deal altered U.N. declarations on NCDs, TB “Last week, a crucial high-level political declaration on tuberculosis passed at the United Nations General Assembly secured a partial victory for advocates of affordable medicines. At the same time, a high-level declaration on noncommunicable diseases also passed at UNGA…

FT Health: Time for action on NCDs The latest issue of the Financial Times’ weekly global health newsletter discusses takeaways from the U.N. High-Level Meetings on TB and NCDs and features an interview with Francis Gurry, director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, “which this week launched Pat-Informed, the…

Intellectual Property Watch: WHO Head Highlights Tobacco Plain Packaging Victory At WTO; Vaping Lobbyists Hit Geneva “World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Dr. Tedros) [Monday] hailed a dispute settlement decision at the neighboring World Trade Organization upholding laws requiring tobacco products to be packaged without logos or designs as…

Washington Examiner: The U.N. can boost global health by simply protecting IP rights Philip Thompson, policy analyst for intellectual property and international trade with the Property Rights Alliance “…Member states writing [the U.N. Political Declaration to End Tuberculosis] refused to accept U.S. language affirming intellectual property rights as an important…

Reuters: Regulate: ex-world leaders’ solution to ‘failed’ drug war “More governments should turn away from a repressive war on drugs that has ‘failed’ and look to proven strategies to implement regulated markets for risky substances, a group of former presidents and leaders said in a report published Monday. … The…

The Lancet Global Health: A new era for tuberculosis? Editorial Board “…Earlier drafts of the political declaration — the key outcome document of the [first-ever U.N. High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Tuberculosis] — contained reference to the full use of flexibilities in intellectual property rules geared towards maximizing access. Yet, under…

STAT: Ending tuberculosis will take lower drug prices and a new, improved innovation ecosystem John Stephens, lawyer and associate at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at the Georgetown University Law Center; Prabha Mahesh, tuberculosis survivor and member of Touched by TB; and Brian Citro, clinical professor…

Health Affairs: How The U.S. Elevates Corporate Interests Over Global Public Health. And How The World Can Respond Lawrence O. Gostin, O’Neill professor of global health law and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University; Neil R. Sircar, Fogarty global…

Devex: U.S. pressure could make U.N. TB declaration less forceful, MSF says “The United States’ amendments to a forthcoming ministerial document on preventing and treating tuberculosis will likely result in a text that is not ‘actionable,’ Médecins Sans Frontières is warning. Pressure from the United States on BRIC nations and…