"Both human development and poverty reduction are closely linked to the cross-border flow of people and goods. The health sector and health outcomes are affected by these flows, and we need collaborative efforts," said Dr. Nick Drager of WHO's Department of Health and Sustainable Development.

Gretchen Stanton, a senior counsellor at the World Trade Organization, said, "Our mandate is to develop rules for international trade, which is one tool to help countries achieve their objectives including health and development." She cited a "vivid need for close co-ordination at the national level", and said "WHO and WTO cooperate regularly in areas of food safety, intellectual property and many others."

On the issue of the International Health Regulations, which were developed 50 years ago to prevent the spread of six deadly diseases, a new set of regulations is being prepared and should be ready in about two years, said WHO's Johan Giesecke. "The revised regulations aim to prevent and minimise the impact of public health emergencies and add value to health, trade, tourism, transport and agriculture sectors of Member States," he said. New regulations, which now only require notification of cholera, plague and yellow fever, "will require the reporting of all events of urgent international importance related to public health," Giesecke said, such as those with a high potential to spread outside the community or the country.

Essential drugs was another topic in the briefing, with both WHO and WTO experts recognising the importance and complexity of the issue. Despite improved global availability, at least one-third of the world's population still lacks access to essential drugs, and this rises to over half in the poorest areas of Africa and Asia. Participants discussed the impact of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on intellectual property rights (TRIPS – Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

They noted that WHO is working closely with its Member States and with WTO, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), industry, public interest NGOs, and other interested partners.

On the international aspects of food safety, WHO experts said that food-borne disease is increasing as international trade rises, and risk assessment of food products is needed to protect people's health.

Douglas Bettcher, WHO's co-ordinator for a new Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, said, "The health sector has a clear role to play in areas such as tobacco and other hazardous commodities, food safety, liberalization of trade services and patent protection of pharmaceuticals."

The objective of the tobacco convention, which would be the first international public health treaty on tobacco control when approved, he said, "is to reduce the burden of disease attributable to tobacco." Bettcher said several cross border issues such as smuggling and advertising require collaboration between countries.