Dr. David Nabarro:

The way in which it will work will depend entirely on whether governments are prepared to buy into it and work with it in practice. As members are aware, in other issues where there have been patents on medicines or particular devices, it has been necessary for the holder of the patent to cede their rights and make the product available in a wider way. There are certain provisions in World Trade Organization, WTO, legislation for what is called emergency licensing of patented goods that can be applied. Fundamentally, that only works with the consent of the patent-holding companies and the nations within which they exist. For me, looking at the current situation as a bit of an outside observer because it is between the member states rather than being dealt with by the secretariat, I am seeing strong support from many governments for broader access and for not having intellectual property issues stand in the way of access. However, some major nations are still not fully participating. In light of Ireland's role on the international stage in particular, I encourage it to take responsibility for advancing this issue as fully as possible in the various political environments.

I am thinking particularly of Ireland's permanent representative in New York working with other permanent representatives, but perhaps there can also be a debate with the UN Secretary General. I believe that is the only venue where these kinds of issues can be dealt with. We can deal with them in the World Health Assembly, but in the end the focus must be on the UN machinery. When we were dealing with access to AIDS medicines, it was there that the work was actually done. I would like to encourage the same in this instance.