Read this article in Finnish here. 

Finland is now 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 Finnish 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, Finland 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 actually facilitate access, both by stimulating new discoveries and making it easier for innovative medicines to reach patients that need them.  

The WHO is also 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. With a long history of IP-intensive industries, Finland should reassert its commitment to promoting and protecting the innovation-friendly ecosystem that has helped its economy—and patients—realize substantial benefits.

Take Finland’s patent figures, for example. In 2017, the European Patent Office received over 1,800 patent applications from Finnish innovators—ranking Finland fifth in the world on patent applications per capita. Moreover, according to the most recent figures, in a single year about $143 million was invested into pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) in Finland. In fact, the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 2018 Global Innovation Index ranked Finland as the seventh-most innovative economy in the world, moving up from eighth in 2017.

In public comments and statements, Finland has stood by its commitment to entrepreneurship and medical innovation. Finland’s recent comments have recognized the historical importance of IP—the key component of their knowledge-driven economy:

• Finland reinforced the importance of global IP rules in a statement to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly, in which its representative expressed strong support for “a coherent international IP framework that encourages innovation and creativity” and emphasized a belief in “a simpler and more harmonized IP system.”
• In the same statement to WIPO, the Finnish delegation reflected on the historical role of IP in Finland’s founding, stating, “The young republic considered it important to be part of the international community in the field of intellectual property. Finland felt that a well-functioning industrial property system would promote industrial progress and develop the national economy. Protection of creative works was also considered essential for the success of the new nation.”
• At the 2018 World Health Assembly (WHA), Finland called out the real barriers that hinder access to medicines, rather than IP. The Finnish delegation stated, “Resilient health systems are the bedrock upon which health and well-being are built,” and urged that, “we need to engage society as a whole, working across sectors and with a wide array of partners. This requires a change in mindset. This being said, Finland would hope for a more systematic approach to disease prevention and health promotion in the prioritization and financing of global health and WHO’s work.”

Recognizing Finland’s history of a successful innovation economy, its leaders should fully align with a pro-innovation agenda. In fact, the knowledge and entrepreneurial drive of Finnish biopharmaceutical scientists may be our world’s best hope for treating and curing cancer and other deadly diseases.

As WHO Executive Board considers how to improve access to medicines in January, Finland has an opportunity to take a stand in favor of innovation and patient health. As a nation built upon IP, innovation and knowledge, Finland can help focus the WHO on tackling the real barriers to access, such as weak and under-funded health care systems, poor infrastructure and taxes/tariffs. In particular, Finland 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 Finland 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.