`Forum: World Health Organization The Question of: Generic Drugs and Patents Submitted by: The Islamic Republic of Iran Cosubmitters: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Arab Republic of Egypt, Federal Republic of Somalia, Signatories: People’s Republic of China, Canada, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, The United Mexican State, Republic of India, Kingdom of Norway, State of Japan, Republic of Niger THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, Recognising that only 51.8% of the public health facilities in developing countries are able to provide patients with essential medicines, Noting with concern that the pharmaceutical industry is a monopoly while patents are in effect, which has led to the increased prices of essential medication, Acknowledging that patents are necessary to protect companies’ interests, Affirming that generic drugs are developing countries’ only way of providing essential medication to their citizens, Infuriated that the deadline for the Millenium Declaration of 2001 to achieve universal access to antiretroviral therapy for all who need it by 2010 was missed, Emphasizing the need to provide essential medication to developing countries, Recalling that the Doha Declaration of 2001 agreed that countries could break patents in the interest of public health, Noting with alarm that the TRIPS agreement grants extensive patent rights to pharmaceutical companies which will prevent developing countries from purchasing or producing generic drugs and medication, Embracing the responsibility of a country to provide essential medication to its people; 1. Proposes the formation of the World Health Organisation Drug Supervision Committee (WHODSC), comprised of delegates of all members of the United Nations World Health Organisation, which will oversee a number of operations, including, but not limited to: a) governments wishing to circumvent patent laws in the the pursuit of public health by means of: i) compulsory licensing;
ii) parallel imports; iii) other accepted methods that may be voted upon by the WHO at a later date; b) reducing of durations of patents; c) commissioning of generic drugs; d) the introduction of differential pricing that is aimed towards reducing prices for countries without the capability to manufacture their own drugs or medication; e) increasing distribution of all drugs whether generic or otherwise; 2. Calls for all nations to join the WHODSC, and gives the WHODSC the following powers, all of which may be invoked by a majority vote by the members of the WHODSC: a) the ability to issue legally binding demands, to states for the purposes of: i) the reduction of drug patent durations; ii) the release of information pertaining to drug production methods to governments for the purposes of manufacturing generic drugs; iii) the introduction of differential pricing to decrease prices for countries without the ability to manufacture their own drugs; iv) the increase of exports to countries that do not have the ability to manufacture their own drugs and are currently facing a shortage or other crisis; v) the introduction of compulsory licensing, to bypass a patent holder charging extortionate prices, for the purposes of increasing the affordability of such drugs; vi) the introduction of parallel imports as a means to increase competition and supply of drugs as to reduce prices; vii) any other issues pertaining to the manufacture of generic drugs that may be deemed to be necessary by the WHODSC at a later date; b) the ability to sanction countries that do not comply with the demands made by the WHODSC; c) the ability to expel states from the World Health Organisation if countries do not comply with the demands made after sanctions have been imposed on the offending country; d) the ability to recommend military action to be taken against an offending country should the country continue to not comply with the demands made, after the country has been expelled from the WHO, with the final authorisation for military action being given by the United Nations Security Council; 3. Proposes a differential pricing strategy with the goals of: a) Serving as a compromise between the pricing power of patented drugs and affordability of pharmaceuticals for developing countries; b) Spreading the burden of providing incentives for research and development more equitably, through methods including (but not limited to):
i) Authorization of aforementioned committee to act as an supervisor of prices, responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the strategy; ii) Establishment of global databases on drug prices, facilitating decisions related to this issue; 4. Encourages the Increased distribution of all drugs through the revising of TRIPs and differential pricing, appeals to all member nations to cooperate and collaborate during the process and calls for the supervising committee (NGO) to oversee the procedures; 5. Requests the reduction of the duration of patents, to 10 years before generic drugs can be produced, appeals to fellow nations to follow on with the request. Demand submission of reports of patents under the newly founded supervising committee; 6. Acknowledges that patents are needed for companies to protect interests and secure profits, notes that patents provide incentive for companies research and development, but appeals to all member nations to consider the health care of all citizens of all countries; 7. Remains actively seized on the matter.