Collapse of the WTO Doha Negotiations: Public Health and Trade
On Wednesday, July 28th the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations collapsed in Geneva. The immediate cause of the collapse was related to agricultural protectionism. But the underlying issue seems to be the increasing willingness of developing nations to challenge the WTO. In the words of Bolivian President Evo Morales: “The WTO negotiations have turned into a fight by developed countries to open markets in developing countries to favor their big companies.”
In this posting we will briefly consider some resources for understanding the broad importance of global trade for public health.
The San Francisco-based Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health has been at the forefront of bringing attention to the public health implications of trade. Ellen Shaffer of CPATH was the lead author on a excellent summary of the issues Global Trade and Public Health published in the American Journal of Public Health. CPATH signals four key areas of public health concern in trade agreements:
- Health Services: the “export” of health services, often a cover for privatization public systems.
- Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines
- Public Health Protections: often attacked as “trade barriers”
- Water
More generally, the question can be posed whether public health concerns are properly addressed in the very undemocratic forum of trade negotiations. These negotiations tend to be dominated by business interests.
The World Trade Organization provides extensive background materials on its history, organization and functioning. Critical perspectives can be obtained at The Bretton Woods Project: Critical Voices on the World Bank and IMF and Global Exchange’s What are the IMF and World Bank? We would also recommend the website of Health Alliance International which is collaborating with ActionAid to improve “macroeconomic literacy.” They offer workshops and their website includes some of their training materials.
Another good place to start for critical perspectives on trade and health is Charles Labonte’s “Dying for Trade: Why Globalization Can Be Bad for Your Health“. We also recommend two Lancet articles: “How the World Trade Organization is shaping domestic policies on health,” an overview by David Price, Allyson M Pollock, Jean Shaoul (Lancet 1999; 354: 1889-92) and “The public health implications of world trade negotiations on the general agreement on trade in services and public services,” by Allyson Pollock and David Price (PDF). An activist perspective can be found at the Access to Essential Medicines Campaign of Doctors without Borders (MSF).
The British-based organization The Corner House has produced a critique of TRIPS (Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) entitled: Who Owns the Knowledge Economy? Political Organising Behind TRIPS (PDF). This 32-page report explains the politics of intellectual property in clear and simple terms. It is the TRIPS agreement that has been the basis for restricting the production of generic copies of on-patent drugs.
Other sites of interest:
- Global Trade Watch, Public Citizen
- IP Health is a list-serve devoted to questions of intellectual property and health. The list is maintained by James Love and M. Palmedo of the Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health.
- Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair site is oriented primarily towards consumers; the materials, therefore, are quite accessible.
- MedAct’s WTO Page
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