EPN - Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network

The Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on Intellectual Property (IP), Innovation and Health was established under the World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolution 59.24 and tasked to draw up a global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation, essential health research and IP rights on access to essential medicines for diseases specifically found in developing countries.

The Africa Civil Society (CS) Coalition was set up in August 2007 to develop an African civil society position on Intellectual Property (IP), Innovation and Health. EPN is a partner of the Coalition which incorporates various organizations. In August 2007 a statement was drafted and presented to the African Ministers of Health meeting held in September in Brazzaville, Congo, and also at the second IGWG public hearing in Switzerland in November 2007.

According to EPN's membership guidelines, a partner is an organization, agency or association that provides financial or technical support or undertakes collaborative activities with the Network, or is an umbrella organization of which the Network is a member. EPN's partners include:

EPN has promoted the rational use of medicines since the inception of its activities. Our ongoing efforts are described in the pages in this section.

Following Abbot laboratories to withdraw the registration of its life-saving AIDS drug Kaletra^® (marketed as Aluvia) and six other essential medicines in Thailand, April 26th 2007 was marked as the Global day of Action against Abbot Laboratories. To add its voice to the many around the world who strongly oppose Abbot’s actions, EPN in conjunction with Health Action International (HAI) – Africa, wrote an open letter to Abbot Shareholders expressing displeasure on this decision and requesting them to urge the company to rescind its decision. The letter was sent to the shareholders on the eve of their annual general meeting scheduled for April 27th 2007.

In its continued efforts to promote rational use of medicines, EPN in conjunction with Health Action International (HAI) – Africa has developed a document which will be used to appeal to the delegates of the WHA to strengthen and support the rational use of medicines (RUM) resolution. The document highlights facts on RUM, the benefits of strengthening the RUM resolution and gives specific areas in need of input from the member states. The WHA is scheduled for 14th – 23rd May 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Download EPN/HAI document [.pdf 74 Kb]

Jane Masiga, a member of EPN's board gave a report of her experience in Toronto:

Background

XVI International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2006) which was organised by the International AIDS Society (IAS) and the AIDS 2006 Toronto Local Hosts was held at the Metro Toronto Conventional Centre in Toronto, Canada between 13th and 18th August 2006. The week marked the 25th anniversary of the first reported case of HIV/AIDS. The conference was expected to be the most important global gathering in the fight against the spread of AIDS, as well as a unique opportunity for science, community, government and leadership from around the world to advance the response to the epidemic. It was a forum where timely and important data on the leading HIV/AIDS issues were presented and allowed for sharing of lessons learned among developing and developed countries. This would assist in bringing and supporting effective treatment and prevention programmes to communities around the world.  World-wide, an estimated 38.6 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.

The XVI International AIDS conference was held in Toronto Canada from 13th -18th August 2006. EPN was represented at the conference by the coordinator and a board member.

The coordinator participated in the Ecumenical pre-conference from 10th – 12th as part coordinator for one of the streams and on Monday 14th she was part of a team organized by Bread for the World (BfdW) that ran a skills building workshop on treatment literacy.

Jane Masiga an EPN board member,  also participated in the main conference and presented a paper on Challenges of Scale-up and Local Distribution in the session: “Supplying a Lifeline: Delivering Quality, Affordable Medicines and Supplies to People Living with and Affected by HIV/AIDS.”

Click on the links below to view summaries of their experiences.