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On Wednesday the Graduate Institute’s Global Health Programme held its 5th High-Level Symposium on Global Health Diplomacy at the World Trade Organization’s William Rappard Centre in Geneva. The Symposium was entitled “Ten years after the Doha Declaration: The future agenda at the interface of public health, innovation and trade” and included a dialogue between Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, and Francis Gurry, Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The discussion was chaired by Ruth Dreifuss, former Federal Counsellor of Switzerland and former chairperson of the WHO Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health.

The all-day event also included presentations by top and senior officials from several other leading organisations concerned with health issues such as UNAIDS, the Global Fund, GAVI Alliance, UNITAID, IFPMA, NCD Alliance, USPTO and MSF, as well as the Swiss and Kenyan Ambassadors to the UN, and well-known international scholars. The Director of the Graduate Institute, Philippe Burrin, opened the event with Ilona Kickbusch, Director of the Global Health Programme, who also moderated the afternoon session.

At the event, several important declarations were made by the invited officials and were reported in the media.

Pascal Lamy said that the 10-year-old WTO declaration has reinforced policy choices.

Francis Gurry said it is necessary to develop mechanisms to work with industry as a partner while keeping the required distance as public policy organisations.

Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund - in response to a question - said that the Fund is in “unprecedented financial crisis” and is suspending its 11th round of funding because donors had not come up to the mark.

Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director, said nearly half of people eligible for HIV treatment are now receiving it.

The Graduate Institute’s Global Health Programme is a research endeavour which concentrates on examining links between health, foreign policy, trade and development.

More information on the symposium is available on the Global Health Programme website and video extracts of the event will be available there soon.