The pharmaceutical industry has consistently argued that if drug-makers are forced to sell drugs at a deep discount or are required to license generic versions when they are most needed, then the industry would not be able to afford research into the next generation of advanced drugs.
According to a WHO transcript of Annan's remarks last Thursday, he said that the UN would be "encouraging pharmaceutical companies and others to be helpful, making sure that we do not allow intellectual property to get into the way of access of the poor to medication, allowing for emergency production of vaccine in the developing countries, and I wouldn't want to hear the kind of debate we got into when it came to the HIV" drugs.
"So we should be clear that in this situation, we will take the measures to make sure poor and rich have access to the medication and the vaccine required," Annan said. "And the decision should be taken ahead of time so that we don't have to quibble about it when the critical and the crisis moment arrive."
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