The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) will hold a joint workshop on Innovation and Access to diagnostics for COVID-19 and beyond on October 28, 2022 from 14h00 to 16h30 (Geneva time) in virtual format.
This is the third in the series of trilateral workshops which the Directors-General of the WHO, WIPO and the WTO have agreed to organize within the existing collaboration framework. Those workshops aim at strengthening the capacity of policymakers and experts in Members of the three organizations and in WTO accession candidates to address the pandemic and to achieve equitable access to COVID-19 health technologies.
Objectives of the Workshop
This practical capacity-building workshop jointly organized by the WHO, WIPO and WTO Secretariats will look at diagnostics with a focus on in vitro diagnostics (IVD). The workshop aims to:
- Strengthen members’ capacity to assess medical device, diagnostic therapeutic technologies to respond to COVID-19;
- help to better understand the concept and particularities of all diagnostics (including in vitro and in-vivo);
- understand the importance of regulatory processes for ensuring timely access to safe, efficacious and quality in vitro diagnostics;
- review the landscape for in vitro diagnostics for COVID-19 and explore the following issues: key products, lead manufacturers, manufacturing data, main production locations, and trade flows;
- look at information resources, including those made available by WHO, WIPO or WTO;
- consider relevant IP issues, including the role of IP and licensing as part of the enabling environment for innovation, local production and access;
- review trade-related issues that impact on access to vitro diagnostics, as well as ingredients or components;
- provide a forum for exchange of experiences and views that can help the Secretariats of WHO, WIPO and WTO to better respond to capacity-building needs of their members.