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Article

29 Jun 2005

Author:
Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, now President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative

[response by Mary Robinson to article by Alan Oxley entitled "Trading Away Good Health?"]

[N]ot only Thailand, but also 13 other countries put forward a draft resolution on "international trade and health" at the May 2005 WHO Executive Board meeting. This resolution and similar efforts are not aimed at “expanding the trade agenda” as Mr. Oxley suggests. Instead, they seek to draw attention to the effects – positive and negative - that trade agreements (such as the WTO TRIPS and GATS agreements) can have on public health and to develop mechanisms to ensure greater coherence between trade and health policies at national and international level. In fact, a 2002 joint report by the WHO and the WTO Secretariat praised Thailand's experience in health and trade collaboration noting that coordination between national trade and health officials “contributes to ensuring that health interests are taken into account in trade policies.”