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The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7187 p274-79
2 March 2002

International help for developing world's drug needs

An international organisation is to be set up later this year to help the governments of developing countries negotiate better deals for drugs and to help local researchers protect their ideas.

The United States' Rockefeller Foundation will fund the Management of Intellectual Property in Health Research and Development (MIHR) organisation, which is to be set up by public health and intellectual property experts from Britain and the Netherlands, with the help of experts from Asia, Africa, South America and North America.

The MIHR will initially focus on identifying and codifying best practices for pharmaceutical licensing, providing training for scientists, universities and research institutes in managing intellectual property rights to benefit the public sector, and offering consultant services to groups concerned with health research and product development.

A European Commission report comments: "The initiative is expected to benefit research and development institutions in both developing countries and developed countries which need assistance in understanding the basics of intellectual property transactions, and international R&D programmes requiring consultancy work."

European grant for South Africa The European Commission has approved the payment of £50m in grants over six years to help the South African government strengthen primary health care, in particular in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The first £25m, for 2002–04, will be allocated to South Africa's Department of Health. The remainder will be paid in 2004, subject to positive external review. Of the total amount, 40 per cent will be disbursed to non-governmental and community based organisations delivering primary health care, especially in poor towns and villages in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Northern Province.