The Wire: Exclusive: Draft U.N. Text on TB No Longer Carries Provisions on Affordable Medicines
“Officials from around the world have been debating for two months now, the text of the final declaration which will be released at the first-ever U.N. General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending Tuberculosis, in September this year. The Wire has reviewed the current draft of the declaration — one of the last iterations of it — which was prepared on Friday, July 20. This draft will probably be discussed in what may be the last round of talks on Monday. The draft has completely dropped critical language which developing countries were fighting for — language that would protect the rights of these developing countries to access affordable medicines via TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) flexibilities. … The lack of mention of TRIPS flexibilities in this draft, at this final stage, has caused alarm in the global public health community, which has been watching the negotiations closely…” (Bhuyan, 7/21).