Ellen 't Hoen
Encyclopedia
Ellen F. M. 't Hoen was until end 2008 the policy and advocacy director of the Médecins sans Frontières
campaign for the access to essential medicines. She has trained as a lawyer (masters degree from Amsterdam University) and a social worker, but has spent the main part of her professional life as an activist for patients rights and more equitable pharmaceutical policies.
She won several awards for her work on the effects of exposure to the drug diethylstilbestrol
(DES)
in the 1980s and 1990s, including the prestigious Harriet Freezerring award
in 1989.
She is currently also a research fellow at the University of Amsterdam doing research on the implementation of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health.
After working, amongst others, for Health Action International she joined Médecins sans Frontières
access campaign in 1999.
In 1981 she co-founded DES Action the Netherlands. In 1990 she joined Health Action International to head the policy and campaigns unit. From 1996 until 1999 she was the international coordinator of the independent medicines journal La Revue Prescrire/Prescrire International and the International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB).
She is an expert in medicines policy and intellectual property law and has been a consultant to a number of countries and international organisations.
In 2005 and 2006 she was listed as one of the 50 most influential people in intellectual property in the world by the journal Managing Intellectual Property.
Ellen 't Hoen is now executive director of the Medicines Patent Poolhttp://www.medicinespatentpool.org/, cofounded by UNITAID
.
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
campaign for the access to essential medicines. She has trained as a lawyer (masters degree from Amsterdam University) and a social worker, but has spent the main part of her professional life as an activist for patients rights and more equitable pharmaceutical policies.
She won several awards for her work on the effects of exposure to the drug diethylstilbestrol
Diethylstilbestrol
Diethylstilbestrol is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen that was first synthesized in 1938. Human exposure to DES occurred through diverse sources, such as dietary ingestion from supplemented cattle feed and medical treatment for certain conditions, including breast and prostate cancers...
(DES)
in the 1980s and 1990s, including the prestigious Harriet Freezerring award
Opzij
Opzij is a mainstream Dutch feminist monthly magazine. It was founded as a radical feminist magazine in November 1972 by Wim Hora Adema and Hedy d'Ancona ; the title means both "out of the way!" and "about her." A former editor was Cisca Dresselhuys, who retired in 2008; the current editor is...
in 1989.
She is currently also a research fellow at the University of Amsterdam doing research on the implementation of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health.
After working, amongst others, for Health Action International she joined Médecins sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
access campaign in 1999.
In 1981 she co-founded DES Action the Netherlands. In 1990 she joined Health Action International to head the policy and campaigns unit. From 1996 until 1999 she was the international coordinator of the independent medicines journal La Revue Prescrire/Prescrire International and the International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB).
She is an expert in medicines policy and intellectual property law and has been a consultant to a number of countries and international organisations.
In 2005 and 2006 she was listed as one of the 50 most influential people in intellectual property in the world by the journal Managing Intellectual Property.
Ellen 't Hoen is now executive director of the Medicines Patent Poolhttp://www.medicinespatentpool.org/, cofounded by UNITAID
Unitaid
UNITAID is an international facility for the purchase of drugs against HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. It was founded in September 2006 on the initiative of Brazil and France, and is to a great part financed by so called innovative development financing mechanisms, namely a solidarity levy on...
.