Read this article in Arabic here.

Algeria is serving a three-year term on the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Executive Board, a key decision-making body that guides the WHO’s work on global health. Alongside thirty-three other countries on the Executive Board, the Algerian delegation will attend the 144th session of the Executive Board in January 2019 to discuss topics ranging from polio eradication to the health implications of climate change.

But perhaps the most important topic on the Executive Board’s agenda is the WHO’s proposed Roadmap on Access to Medicines. This Roadmap sets priorities for the next five years of the WHO’s work on medicines around the world. As an Executive Board member, Algeria will help shape the discussion about how the WHO should approach this issue.

Unfortunately, the WHO’s Roadmap, proposed by the WHO’s Secretariat, has serious problems that Member States need to fix. For example, the Roadmap envisions an expanded WHO role advising countries on intellectual property, such as the use of “compulsory licenses” (sometimes called “TRIPS flexibilities”) to allow the manufacture of patented medicines without the patent owners’ consent. This is unnecessary and would gravely harm global innovation – making it harder for patients to access today’s medicines and undermining investment in tomorrow’s new treatments and cures.

The WHO’s Roadmap reflects a tendency at the WHO to see patents as a barrier to access.  But this isn’t true: research has found no correlation between intellectual property and access to medicines.  Nearly all the drugs the WHO deems “essential” are already off-patent yet still out of reach for millions due to other factors, such as weak and underfunded health care systems.  Strengthening IP can facilitate access, both by stimulating new discoveries and making it easier for innovative medicines to reach patients that need them.  

The WHO also is ill-suited to make these recommendations: it lacks the expertise to advise countries on the complex technical, economic and trade implications of intellectual property (IP) protections. Many countries have already raised concerns that the WHO should not spend its limited resources working on such polarizing tasks that are unlikely to improve access to medicines. 

WHO Executive Board members need to step up—and speak out—about the vital role of IP in spurring new discoveries. In the past, Algeria has pointed fingers at IP as a barrier to access to medicines, despite research that proves otherwise; and the country has actively called for ignoring IP protections as a misguided attempt to support access.

This lack of support for IP is reflected in the country’s weak innovation track record. For example, the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 2018 Global Innovation Index ranked Algeria well into the bottom half of countries at 110, noting the country’s investment in innovation is performing below expectations for an economy of its size. Patent applications have also decreased consistently since 2011, from 905 then to 683 in 2016, which are the most recent numbers available.

While Algeria’s statements in recent international meetings suggest they value innovation, ultimately, the country has consistently called for actions that undermine it. Rather than focusing on the complex barriers to medicine access, Algerian statements often blame intellectual property—the key component of the knowledge-driven economy they strive for—as the primary barrier standing between patients and the treatment and cures they need. These mixed messages have been seen in recent multilateral meetings:

• At the 58th WIPO Meetings of the Assemblies in Geneva this past fall, Algeria noted the country “has placed the development of intellectual property among its national priorities…and considers intellectual property an essential lever for socio-economic development in an increasingly globalized world in which the knowledge-based economy becomes a source of progress and prosperity.”
• This spirit contradicts comments made at the 2018 World Health Assembly, when the Algerian delegation openly called for weakening IP protections for health and medical innovation, noting a desire “to explore the best way to ensure flexibilities within TRIPS can be implemented to have technology transfer in the area of health.”

Algeria’s contradictory statements—saying they prioritize IP development while at the same time calling for compulsory licensing—have undermined its reputation on the global stage. Instead of consistently taking pro-innovation positions, Algeria has sent mixed signals, with consequences for both global health and its domestic innovative industries. As the WHO Executive Board considers how to improve access to medicines, Algeria has an opportunity to take a stand in favor of innovation and patient health by investing in and supporting innovators at home, as well as publicly promoting an intellectual property ecosystem that makes inventions, like new treatments and cures, possible. In particular, Algeria should speak out clearly at the Executive Board meeting to convey concerns about the Roadmap and ensure it does not lead to expanded WHO activities that would undermine IP globally.

Now’s the time to act. Patients around the world depend on Algeria and the other Executive Board members to lead the charge on proactive and comprehensive solutions that address the real and complex obstacles to better global health.