PHA-Exchange> UN STUDY ANALYZES HOW BENEFITS FROM TRADITIONAL MEDICINES ARE SHARED

[Claudio]

From: "Vern Weitzel" <vern.weitzel at undp.org>

UN STUDY ANALYZES HOW BENEFITS FROM TRADITIONAL MEDICINES ARE SHARED

> New York, Feb 10 2004  6:00PM
> A new United Nations report spotlights the complexities of equitably
sharing profits from the commercial use of herbs
> traditionally nurtured by indigenous groups, but recently analyzed and
patented by non-indigenous corporations.
>
> The study, produced jointly by the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
> highlights the shortcomings of existing agreements while pointing out that
there is scope for property rights to be used more
> effectively to generate and share benefits more equitably.
>
> Offering examples, the report notes that a Genetic Resource Recognition
Fund was established at the University of California at
> Davis to share the benefits from the commercial use of a now patented,
disease-resistance gene taken from rice used by the Bela
> people in Mali. But so far, the Trust has received no funds.
>
> The WIPO/UNEP study also questions why the blight-resistance gene from
Oryza longistaminata and the associated technical knowledge
> are not being made available to the Institute of Economic Research in
Mali, given the current work by UC Davis to transfer the
> gene into Chinese rice varieties.
>
> The Bela people have been given "no formal recognition as primary
conservators and holders of detailed knowledge of this
> disease-resistant variety of wild rice," it notes.
>
> In India, a team of researchers from the All India Coordinated Research
Project learned from the Kani people about an energizing
> substance derived from the Arogypaacha plant. Subsequently the Tropical
Botanic Garden Research Institute in Kerala developed,
> tested and licensed it to companies under the name Jeevani.
>
> The Kerala Kani Samudaya Kshema Trust was set up in the late 1980s, funded
by some of the profits from licensing Jeevani. The
> trust's objectives included community welfare and development projects for
the Kani in Kerala.
>
> The patents filed on the medicines excluded an important Indian healers'
association called Plathis, however, and covered just
> India, the study says. Nonetheless, it notes, Jeevani products are being
sold outside India, with at least one company in the
> United States falling outside the licensing and benefit-sharing agreement.