1. Eastern Europe & Central Asia IP/ Trade developments & civil society Olena, All-Ukrainian Network of PLHIV Denis, ITPCru Raminta, EATG / OSF Civil Society Sstrategy Meeting on the Future of Access to Medicines, BKK, 13-15 Dec 2011

2. 12+3 countries of different sizes and shapes Middle income, few low income Proximity to the EU Influence of patternalistic Russia

3. Increasing IP & data exclusivity protection WTO/FTA/EU accession – (Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine,...) – But national legislation goes even for higher protection (recent Ukraine Law on Medicines: higher data exclusivity protections than required via its agreements with WTO and EU) Regional Eurasian Patent Organization: gateway to register regional patents Customs union – impact to be reviewed Some flexibilities remain (competition law, CL/Gvt use..) Little understanding of the issues – Community (exceptions: Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, 2-3 regional people – key success of the last 3 years) – Govnts (some more knowledge through regional UNDP workshops) – UNDP national offices..

4. Major problems with A2M? Local pharmaceutical industry – strategic priority (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan) National budgets for meds increase but access 40-60% Quality – Probably some real problems / low quality standards at regulatory level and corruption, particularly for domestic production – All patient communities: generics are not good (we want European standard) Corruption in tenders & registration: – Russia pays higher prices for hepC, some ARV meds than in the EU; only six generic ARV registered/3 purchased – Ukraine: major HIV network’s efforts to increase transparency of procurement Enforcing patents: more activity and interest from big pharma HIV: Merck,GSK, Abbott/Ukraine.. Key issue - transparency

5. Community advocacy in A2M in 2009- 2011 Hepatitis C Tx advocacy – National commitment – Community organizing IP – Kyrgyzstan: Patent Law review, community organizing, mobilizing UNDP support – First attempts to influence FTA/WTO negotiations: KZ, Ukr – Advocacy around data exclusivity in Ukraine HIV: Reactive advocacy re ART access – Interruptions, tender monitoring