WHO announces make-up of new committee

The members of the World Health Organisation's Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH).

The Commission is the result of a resolution at the 2003 World Health Assembly, which called for WHO to establish a time-limited body to 'produce an analysis of intellectual property rights, innovation, and public health, including the question of appropriate funding and incentive mechanisms for the creation of new medicines and other products against diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries.'

The CIPIH will be chaired by Ruth Dreifuss, a member of the Swiss Government between 1993-2002. As Federal Minister of Interior her responsibilities included public health and scientific research. The vice-chair will be Dr Ragunath Anand Mashelkar, Director-General of India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, one of the largest chains of industrial research and development institutions in the world.

The other eight members of the Commission are:

• Professor Carlos Correa, a lawyer and economist from Argentina, and director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies on Industrial Property and Economics Law at the University of Buenos Aires.

• Professor Mahmoud Fathalla, Professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, former dean of the medical school at Assiut University, Egypt, and chair of the WHO advisory committee on health re-search.

• Dr Maria Freire, ceo of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development.

• Professor Trevor Jones, director-general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, and was previously r&d director at the Wellcome Foundation.

• Tshediso Matona, an economist and trade policy expert, and deputy director-general in South Africa's Department of Trade and Industry.

• Professor Fabio Pammolli, professor of economics and management at the University of Florence. He is the director of European pharmaceutical regulation and innovation systems at the University of Siena.

• Professor Pakdee Pothisiri, senior deputy permanent secretary of health, Government of Thailand, and formerly secretary general of the Thai Food and Drug Administration.

• Professor Hiroko Yamane, professor of international economic law, economic law and European Community law at the Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, specialising in trade law, competition and intellectual property rights.

The Commissioners are appointed in their individual capacity rather than as the representative of an institution or government body, and will have complete independence in carrying out their work. The Commission will be supported by reference groups for the purposes of consulting key stakeholders, including the research and development-based industry and civil society groups.

It intends to hold its first meeting in Geneva in late March and will submit its report to WHO's executive board in January 2005.