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Posted on Categories Featured, News 241 Comments on Civil Society Petitions EU Delegation Over LDC TRIPS Extension

Civil Society Petitions EU Delegation Over LDC TRIPS Extension

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

23rd Β May, 2013

1WIPO-615x461Uganda, Kampala – Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working on issues of trade, intellectual property, access to medicines, food & Seed in Uganda have issued a letter to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Council Chair as well as Developed country Missions in Uganda to express their disapproval of the manner in which the negotiations for the request to extend the time within which Least Developed Countries (LDCs) can enforce Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS).

On November 2012, Haiti (the then chair of LDCs at the TRIPS Council) submitted a request on behalf of all LDCs to the WTO TRIPS Council for an extension of the LDC transition period until a Member ceases to be a LDC. This request has received overwhelming support from developed countries like Norway, academics from around the world, 5 representatives of the US Senate, and civil society groups from developed, developing and least developed countries..

It is infuriating to note, however, that over the past few months, the WTO has been chairing informal meetings between developed countries and least developed countries where LDCs have been pressed to agree to a shorter term of 5 – 7.5 years and the inclusion of a provision to not roll back their current intellectual property laws without admitting groups that support them to the meetings.

The Director of the Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development, Mulumba Moses, has expressed dissatisfaction at these developments, β€œThis is unacceptable as the TRIPS Agreement states that upon a duly motivated request, the TRIPS council shall grant an extension. LDCs to which Uganda is categorised are justified in seeking an unlimited extension for so long as they are so classified because the suggested 5-7 years will not give us adequate time to overcome capacity constraints to develop a viable and competitive technological base.”

It should also be noted that almost 90% of drugs in Uganda are imported, the majority of which are generic versions from India. India, like Uganda, is a party to the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). As per requirements under TRIPS, India grants product patents for drugs and pharmaceuticals while Uganda does not. This has impacted the accessibility and affordability of cheap lifesaving drugs as Uganda does not have the capacity to provide drugs for its entire population.

Mr, Joshua Wamboga from The Aids Support Organisation (TASO) notes, β€œThe ability to access cheap medicines on the market will be curtailed and the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda may be lost if expansive trade laws are adopted without improving the incomes of Ugandans.”.

The next TRIPS Council meeting will be held on 10-11 June, 2013 but United States, European Union, and Australia are currently in informal meetings aggressively trying to pressure LDCs to keep in place the β€œno roll-back” provision that prevents LDCs from changing their existing laws, even if they were adopted from the colonial era or new laws that have proven bad for development.

Posted on Categories Featured, General News 2 Comments on CREATIVITY: The Next Generation Solution For Life Saving Medicines In Uganda

CREATIVITY: The Next Generation Solution For Life Saving Medicines In Uganda

The celebration of World Intellectual Property day to day, provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the importance of intellectual property (IP) in the lives of ordinary Ugandans. Indeed flexible intellectual property laws and policies have increasingly become relevant in today’s discussions on access to essential commodities which are critical in an economy such as ours.

As this year’s theme [Creativity: The Next Generation] suggests, we need to highlight the importance of intellectual property policy, legal and institutional frameworks in ensuring an environment for creativity while at the same time addressing the potential of intellectual property to enhance the quality of the daily lives of the people of Uganda today and the generations to come.

The World Intellectual property day also offers us a chance to reflect on the opportunities provided by Articles 7 and 8 of the World Trade Organization’s Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement. Article 7 of this Agreement provides that the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights SHOULD contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare. On the other hand, Article 8 gives the countries liberty to adopt measures necessary to protect public health and nutrition, and to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance to their socio-economic and technological development while formulating or amending their laws and regulations. This position was also re-affirmed in the 2001 Declaration at Doha that β€œthe TRIPS Agreement DOES NOT and SHOULD NOT prevent Members from taking measures to protect public health.”

See full statement hereMEDICINES

Posted on Categories Featured 86 Comments on Contraceptives can reduce the number of unsafe abortions

Contraceptives can reduce the number of unsafe abortions

By Henry Zakumumpa

More than half of all pregnancies in Uganda are unintended and nearly a third of them end in abortion, according to survey results unveiled by Dr Charles Kiggundu, a consultant gynaecologist at Mulago hospital.

“Probably half of all of you seated in front of me today were not intended by your parents,’’ Dr Kiggundu told a fully- packed Palm conference room at Kabira Country Club in the outskirts of Kampala.

The study results released by the US-based, Guttmacher Institute and the Centre of Health, Human Rights and Development, also reveal that Ugandan women on average wished they had at least two children less, a phenomenon also called excess fertility.

On average, each woman in Uganda gives birth to 6.7 children which is high even by Sub-Saharan African standards. The study results are based on analysis of Uganda’s 2011 Demographic and Health Survey.

At the centre of the millions of unintended pregnancies in Uganda, is non-use of contraception.

Only an estimated 25 per cent of women in Uganda have access to modern contraception methods pointing to a staggering lack of access to modern and safe contraception.

One in three married women in Uganda had an unmet need for contraception according to the survey results.

“It is also a question of having less options of contraception,’’ added Dr Frederick Mugisha, a health economist, who maintained that Ugandan women do not have many choices when it comes to contraception.

Clearly, investments targeted at increasing access to family planning and contraception for women of reproductive age in Uganda would save the country phenomenal sums of monies spent on treating post abortion complications and having fewer mouths to feed, educate and would be kinder to the environment. If all Ugandan women had met their wish of having two children less than they currently have, the population of Uganda would have been undoubtedly impacted by gains in per capita income and a better quality of life achieved for millions of Ugandans.

It emerged at the meeting that myths and misconceptions about modern contraception methods causing cancer and fibroids is widespread and is a barrier to contraception utilisation by Ugandan women.

The traditional medicinemen have hijacked contraception education. There are several programmes on local radio and television stations that are misinforming many women on safe contraception in preference for crude and riskier methods.

Dr Zainab Akol of the Ministry of Health regretted that the medical profession in Uganda has ceded the ground for offering scientific and evidence-based contraception information to misinformed β€œmedicine men” on whose inaccurate advice many rural and uneducated women depend for decisions on birth control and family planning.

Unsafe abortion and contraception is a human rights, public health, legal and moral issue in Uganda that must be addressed,’’ emphasised Moses Mulumba, head of the Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development, who revealed that 26 per cent of all maternal deaths are attributed to unsafe abortion.

Prof Ben Twinomugisha, dean of the School of Law at Makerere University, emphasised that human beings have a right to enjoy sex and then when debating issues surrounding abortion, β€œthe woman should be at the centre” of the debate.

Studies done by the Guttmacher institute show that there is a co-relation between restrictive laws on birth control and increased abortion. Countries, especially in Europe, which have a liberal stance on birth control have fewer deaths from unsafe abortions and spend less on post abortion complications.

Source: http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/Contraceptives-can-reduce-the-number-of-unsafe-abortions/-/691232/1712464/-/13kqg7lz/-/index.html

Posted on Categories Featured Leave a comment

1.7 million annual births are unintended – report

By Patrick Jaramogi

Fifty six percent of the pregnancies in Uganda are unintended, leading to high levels of unplanned births, unsafe abortion and maternal injury and death, a new study has revealed.

According to the report; β€œThe state of sexual Reproductive Health in Uganda” that was released at the Kabira Country Club, Uganda the worlds’ third fastest growing population (After Qatar and Zimbabwe) currently registers at least three million pregnanciesΒ  annually. The increase in pregnancies has shot up from 2.2 million in 2008 to 3 million this year.

β€œWe have discovered that Ugandans are sexually active. One in three sexually active women in Uganda, both married and unmarried, want to avoid pregnancy but are not using a method of contraception,” said Dr. Charles Kiggundu a consultant obstetrician gynaecologist.

Kiggundu who was part of the team that did the research in the country funded by the US based Guttmacher Institute and the Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) said Uganda has one of the highest recorded levels of unmet need for contraceptives in Sub Saharan African according to the new report by the Guttmacher Institute.

β€œAccording to the 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey, (DHS), more than four in 10 births are not planned. Unintended pregnancy is the cause of most abortions in Uganda,” said Kiggundu. He said the study also revealed that 50 percent of the girls in Uganda have sex by the age of 16, with the percentage shooting to 80 percent when they clock 19 years.

He said that out of the 3 million pregnancies registered annually, 56 percent are unintended (1.7 million), and 30 percent end up in abortions, while 14 percent are miscarriages.Β  He pointed out that even educated married women find it hard to avoid pregnancies leading to unintended births or unsafe abortions.

β€˜This epidemic of unintended pregnancy takes a devastating toll on women, families and communities leading to over 30,000 abortions annually,” he said.Β  Adding, β€œInvestment is needed to expand the scope of services available to women but as long as women continue to have unwanted pregnancies, they will continue to resort to unsafe abortion.”

Dr. Zainab Akol the Principle Medical Officer Reproductive and Maternal Health department in the Ministry of Health who launched the report said 26 percent of the maternal deaths are attributed to unsafe abortions.

β€˜We need as government to partner with the private entities to up the fight on maternal deaths,” she said. She said more funding was needed to address the reproductive health issues that affect women.

Dr. Cynthia Summer the Vice President Guttmacher Institute said Ugandan women from all levels of society experience unintended pregnancy and thus seek out an abortion, virtually which is clandestine and unsafe. β€œBut the level of risk varies depending on a woman’s social-economic status. While wealthier women turn to doctors, and nurses for an abortion, the rural poor women obtain abortions from untrained providers using unsafe methods,” said Summer.

Moses Mulumba the CEHURD executive director said Uganda’s law on abortion is much more expansive than commonly believed. β€œAbortion is permitted to preserve the life, mental and physical health of the pregnant women.Β  The current law needs further clarification on how it should be implemented,” noted Mulumba.

Source:http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/639732-1-7-million-annual-births-are-unintended-report.html

 

 

Posted on Categories Featured, General News, News 129 Comments on Application process for 2013 fellowships now open

Application process for 2013 fellowships now open

CEHURD (Center for Health, Human Rights and Development) invites journalists to apply for the 2013 intellectual property and human rights reporting fellowships. The fellowship is a one-year mentoring and capacity-building program for Ugandan journalists to report on issues cutting across intellectual property and human rights.

Purpose of the Fellowship Program

The CEHURD IP and Human Rights Media Fellowship Program aims to enhance the capacity of journalists in the mainstream media to appreciate the links between IP protection and social welfare, and the implications of the on going developments in the protection of IP rights at the different levels, and their implications for public health, access to educational materials, the right to food, and other human rights.

In 2013, the fellowship program will focus on:

  • The on going commercial law reform processes in Uganda and the East African region;
  • The on going dialogue around a possible extension to the transition period granted to LDCs to comply with the TRIPS Agreement; and
  • Alternative models for balancing the rights of IP owners and users, taking the case of the Creative Commons licenses and how it works for journalists and other information users;

Methodology

Successful applicants will attend a- two-day residential orientation training, and will be supported to identify and undertake follow-up activities. Selected candidates will be paired with a supervisor at the media house they are attached to, and linked with experts in the fields of IP and human rights who will provide technical guidance to the candidate to investigate story ideas they identify. The successful candidates will also participate in field visits to key organizations involved in IP work. The follow-up activities will not require full time work and will be supported through small grants.

Eligibility

Interested applicants should:

  • be journalists working with or attached to mainstream mass media in Uganda, including national (or East Africa level) newspapers, radio, or television;
  • commit to be available for the training, field trips and other follow-up activities between February 2013- December 2013;
  • Journalists reporting on policy issues (e.g. covering Parliament), and those with editing roles will have added advantage.

Application process

Interested candidates should express their interest in writing to CEHURD by email to info@cehurd.orgΒ with a copy to Primah on kwagala@cehurd.org

Applications should be sent by

Thursday 28th February 2013 and should be accompanied by the following:

  • A personal CV clearly showing qualifications, expertise and experience
  • brief information on the institution that they are attached to; their employment status and position; and any work they have done themselves related to trade, health, education or agriculture;
  • Confirmation that they are available for both the training workshop and the follow-up work.
  • Endorsement by the immediate supervisor/editor

Successful candidates will be notified byΒ Thursday 7th March 2013. For details of this call please check here

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