A/HRC/12/WG.2/TF/2 page 8 mission’s initial expectations in terms of willingness and interest in opening dialogue. The conclusion of the mission report identified several entry points for convergence between the right to development and the work of these partnerships. 1. Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property 26. In his presentation, the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property explained how the Working Group had evolved through an international debate on the relationship between intellectual property rights, innovation and public health, against the backdrop of efforts to reduce poverty and improve access to health care. The WHO Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health, established in 2004, published a report in 2006, in which it concluded that intellectual property rights provided important incentives for the development of new medicines and medical technologies, but were an effective incentive when patient populations are small or poor. In May 2006, the World Health Assembly established the Working Group to develop a global strategy and plan of action for needs-driven, essential health research and development relevant to diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries, to promote innovation, build capacity, improve access and mobilize resources. 27. Lisa Forman presented the findings of her study (A/HRC/12/WG.2/TF/CRP.5), which identifies several areas of synergy between the Global Strategy and Plan of Action and the right to development, including broad-based participation and consultations in the development of the Strategy and Plan and the establishment of monitoring, evaluation and reporting systems. Some aspects of the Plan were found to be inconsistent with the right to development, including the failure to caution against Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) plus rules, certain limitations on the participation of non governmental organizations and the genuine accessibility of web-based hearings, as well as the purely quantitative nature of the indicators. The Working Group was an important policy initiative with the potential to advance the realization of the rights to development and health, and recommended that inter alia, explicit language be added to reflect the right to health in the Global Strategy and Plan of Action, the recognition of access to essential medicines in the fulfillment of the right to health in national constitutions and international development policies be assessed and greater inclusion of developing countries in evaluating the progress made against the goals of the plan. 28. Ms. Forman noted that some concerns had been expressed about the limitation of policy flexibility under the TRIPS agreement, even though that agreement includes a range of flexibility arrangements, and the Doha Declaration of 2001 confirmed that the legal right of States to use flexibility measures was safeguarded. However, the use of flexibilities in practice remains contentious. 29. Responding to comments by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr and James Love, WTO agreed that, since the adoption in 2001 of the Doha Declaration, which is fully supported by both developing and developed countries, flexibilities are broadly accepted, although there was a need for further capacity-building of developing countries on the implementation and use of TRIPS flexibility clauses.