INTERPOL - World Model United Nations

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Canada, and the United States. 115 ough cooperative in nature, the PFIPC is slow-moving since it performs its actions based on consensus, and several countervailing political opinions come into play. In the United States, the FDA has created a Counterfeit Drug Taskforce in response to the rise in reports of counterfeiting in pharmaceuticals. It has the stated goal of “preventing the introduction of counterfeit drugs, facilitating the identication of counterfeit drugs, minimizing risk and exposure of consumers to counterfeit drugs, and avoiding the addition of unnecessary costs on the prescription drug distribution system, or unnecessary restrictions to lower-cost sources of drugs.” 116 e FDA does not believe that counterfeit drugs are rampant in the United States, but it does acknowledge that there has recently been a dramatic increase. 117 e Counterfeit Drug Task Force identies vulnerabilities in the US drug distribution system and develops ways to counteract these aws. Task force strategies for combating drug counterfeiting include using advanced technology, securing business practices and regulatory requirements, creating rapid alert and response systems, developing education and public awareness programs, and addressing international issues. 118 POTENTIAL VOTING BLOCS In most industrialized countries with eective regulatory systems and market control (such as Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, most of the European Union, and the United States), incidences of counterfeit medicine tend to be less than 1% of market value, according to these countries’ estimates. 119 is number jumps to an estimated 8% of bulk drugs in the United States, according to the American Pharmacists’ Association. 120 Despite this low number, counterfeiting has been on a rise in these nations. us, there will be a focus on regulating and shutting down various websites selling counterfeit drugs. ese countries will be receiving plenty of pressure from large pharmaceutical companies based in their states to focus on regulation stemming from the public and governments. In many African countries and in parts of Asia, Latin America, and countries in transition, a much higher proportion of up to 50% of medicines may be counterfeit. For example, in Cambodia, 60% of 133 drug vendors were found to be selling anti-malaria medications lacking the active ingredient. irty-eight percent of the anti-malarial artesunate in Southeast Asia has been documented to be counterfeit. 121 is proportion varies signicantly in each country, as well as between urban and rural populations. 122 is can be attributed both to weaker regulatory systems as well as a larger market of chronically ill, uneducated, and impoverished patients who are more likely than their educated or wealthier counterparts to seek counterfeit medicines, which tend to be cheaper. ese countries will tend to focus on the need to change overall pharmaceutical prices, which they argue are unaordable to their population due to various patent laws. Countries such as Brazil and India are particularly vocal about this issue; they argue that patent laws make it increasingly dicult to produce mass-made generic drugs that are just as eective as name-brand drugs, but nearly half as expensive. ey blame pharmaceutical companies for using the ght against counterfeit pharmaceuticals as merely a cover for the squashing of competitors that produce generic drugs at low cost. As Maria Nazareth Farani Azevedo, Brazil’s ambassador to the WHO, stated at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland (May 2010): “What we object to is a group of private companies, with the help of the WHO secretariat, waging war in this organisation against generic medicines.” 123 Berne Declaration NGO’s head of health projects Patrick Durish elaborates: “Emerging and developing countries believe there is a readiness to reinforce intellectual property laws and the monopolies of the pharmaceutical industry under the guise of the ght against counterfeits.” 124 us, developing countries will be the ones attempting to pressure pharmaceutical companies through INTERPOL rather than being inuenced by the companies’ wishes in the interest of reducing life-threatening diseases in their country through the provision of low-cost generic drugs. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH For further information about counterfeit pharmaceuticals, the rst resource to consider is the INTERPOL Pharmaceutical Crime Department, which describes INTERPOL’s role and lists several news articles relevant to the issue: http://www.interpol.int/Public/ PharmaceuticalCrime/Default.asp. Further research materials can be found on the websites of all the key actors, listed above: !" WHO: www.who.int !" PSI: www.psi-inc.org !" PFIPC: www.ppc.org !" FDA: www.fda.gov Valuable academic and online journals dealing with health issues with free online content include Journal of the Harvard WorldMUN 2012 INTERPOL 26
American Pharmacists Association, Science Daily, Health Aairs, and Hopkins Medicine Magazine. Your university may also have a subscription to paid online journals such as JSTOR. You can inquire at your library to see if you can access articles that provide deeper analysis of the intricacies of the issue or provide specic examples of successful solutions. You may also nd it helpful to explore the health and trade policy of your state, via its Health Department or a similar national organization. If no country information is readily available, consider a regional organization’s position; in issues of trade, blocs of nations may oen have similar views. As always, please feel free to contact me at lisawang@ college.harvard.edu should you have any additional questions. P OSI T I ON PAPERS All INTERPOL delegates are required to submit position papers detailing their country or organization’s stance on both topics and proposing several solutions that the country or organization would support. Position papers serve to introduce the director and other delegates to your views and spark debate before committee begins. ey also will help you orient your position and allow you to arrive at WorldMUN prepared to engage in debate immediately. ough position papers are not intended to be all-encompassing, they’re a good springboard for your interactions in the committee and will allow you to pick out fellow delegates who have similar ideas. You certainly do not have to feel like you are bound to every word on your position paper; your opinion may change over the course of the conference, and that’s to be completely expected. Generally, each position paper (one per topic) must include: a brief statement of the problem and/or its history (with particular emphasis on its connection to your delegation); a country/organization position and actions on the topic; several comprehensive and collaborative solutions that can be appropriately addressed in an INTERPOL format; and the answers to the following questions: TOPIC A: WILDLIFE CRIME delegation has a particular interest in protecting? Why? Propose some solutions to that eect. been participating? Were they eective? Why or why not? in place to prevent tracking and prevent further species loss? Which should come from INTERPOL? TOPIC B: COUNTERFEIT PHARMACEUTICALS point for counterfeit pharmaceuticals? conict between patent laws and inaccessible medication in developing countries? C L O S I NG REMA RKS Dear Delegates, Congratulations on making it through this study guide! I hope you have found it informative, stimulating, and comprehensive. To truly facilitate a positive and collaborative discussion, however, more research will be necessary to verse yourselves in the views and actions of your particular organization, as well as to nd out more about the complications surrounding Wildlife Crime and Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals that you have undoubtedly come across in this study guide. ough the following bibliography and appendices are a great place to start with your research, I encourage you to look beyond to your delegation’s website or your university’s resources for further guidance. Please do not hesitate to email me at lisawang@college.harvard.edu if you have any questions about the research process or about either topic in particular. I will try my best to answer your questions and point you to the right resources! Best of luck in the research process and see you in Vancouver! Best Regards, Lisa Wang Chair, INTERPOL WorldMUN 2012 B IBL I OGRA P H Y Topic A: Wildlife Crime CITES. “Indicators for Objectives Contained in the CITES Strategic Vision, 2008-2013.” Accessed June 20, 2011. http:// www.cites.org/eng/news/E-SV-indicators.pdf. Coalition Against Wildlife Tracking (CAWT). “Illegal Wildlife Trade.” Last modied 2009. Accessed May 16, 2011. Harvard WorldMUN 2012 INTERPOL 27
Page 1 and 2: INTERPOL World Model UN 2012 Backgr
Page 3 and 4: KATHLEEN TANG Secretary-General SAM
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