Congress report - European Health Forum Gastein

96
European Health Forum Gastein 2001
Schedules are not cast in stone. A government may modify or withdraw any specific
commitment it feels unable to live up to. Such modification or withdrawal does not depend
on any other government's approval. However, in order to discourage excessive use and
protect the overall level of commitments, the relevant Article provides for negotiations on
compensation with affected trading partners. Moreover, under a general exception clause
contained in Article XIV of GATS, Member governments are entitled to take any measure,
regardless of their obligations under the Agreement, that is necessary to protect human,
animal or plant life or health. A recent dispute settlement case has confirmed the relevance
of this clause.13
To date, in the context of the new services round, some 40 WTO Members have specified
their negotiating interests in the form of written proposals. Like other relevant documents,
these are available on the WTO Website (www.wto.org). However, among the 90-odd
proposals received, none refers specifically to medical or hospital services.
All views are those of the author and should not be attributed to the WTO.
The role of commercial enterprises in health
Petra Laux
At GlaxoSmithKline - one of the world's leading research based pharmaceutical companies -
we want to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and
live longer. But developing new medicines is not enough if the patients who need them are
denied access. We are acutely aware that millions of people in developing countries do not
have access to even the most basic healthcare services, including safe and effective
medicines, that are taken for granted in the developed world.
This has led to a global healthcare crisis, in which life threatening diseases such as
tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS are spreading unchecked in countries that have neither
the resources nor the facilities to deal with the epidemics.
Poverty is at the root of the issue. Large parts of the populations of developing countries
often do not have access to food and clean water, let alone healthcare services. If the health
of the developing world is to improve, then all sectors of our global society - governments
and international agencies, as well as the private sector - must work together in partnership.
GlaxoSmithKline is committed to playing a full part by taking an innovative, responsible and
above all, sustainable approach to meeting the healthcare challenges of the developing
world. There are three key areas in which we believe we can contribute:
1. Continuing our investment in the research and development of diseases that affect
the developing world in particular.
We are the only pharmaceutical company that is conducting R&D into both prevention
and treatment of all three of the WHO's top priority diseases - HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB.
However, the fundamental framework on which medical advances depends, and which
13 See reply to Pollock and Price on WTO Website.
International Forum Gastein, Tauernplatz 1, A-5630 Bad Hofgastein
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