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In the area of Trade Agreements & Health, the
WHO has been working closely with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
in the establishment of a WTO cell within the Ministry of Health.
The WTO Cell in the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare began working since July 2004. The aim of the WTO Cell is to help in
ascertaining impacts on public health due to globalisation and suggest ways
to formulate effective legislation and policy initiatives to deal with it.
Since its inception, the WTO cell has organized
workshops with a view to raise issues of concern as well as commissioned
studies to fill gaps in existing information. Some of studies undertaken
include impact of TRIPS on drug prices, competition law policy, and impact of
off-shoring of clinical trials amongst others. The WHO along with the MOFHW
is committed to strengthening the understanding and analyzing the
implications of trade agreements on access to medicines and health care in India.
Over
the next two years, the WTO Cell seeks to further strengthen and enhance the
ongoing efforts and also build on the issues highlighted through the
workshops and studies. The cell will continue to assist the dialogue at the national level
among relevant ministries, including those of health, trade, commerce,
finance and foreign affairs, to work together constructively so as to
facilitate policy coherence and ensure that interests of trade and health are
appropriately balanced and coordinated.
 Reports
Workshops
 Trips and Public Health: Data
Protection under Article 39.3 of Trips,
13 July 2006
Increasing use of Standards
and Their Implementation in Decision-making Processes, 27 Oct 2005
Patent and Public Health:
Addressing the Future Imperatives of Health Security in the Post-Trips Era,
New Delhi, 11 April 2005
National Workshop on Accreditation
and Standardization of Health Services, New Delhi, 9 February 2005
Useful
Links
Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property
WHO SEARO
WHO HQ
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