Access to diagnostics, medicines and treatments
Medicines for the developing world: promoting access and innovation in the post-TRIPS environment
Recommendations to improve access to medicines for HIV and other “neglected” diseases.
Authors:
M. Morgan
Publisher:
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 2006
This paper, published in the University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review, examines the challenges in providing access to effective, affordable pharmaceutical treatments for HIV and AIDS as well as diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. It argues that the Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, which mandates universal pharmaceutical patent protection by all World Trade Organisation members, poses a barrier in providing improved access to new medicines for those most in need. The paper discusses policy initiatives which have the potential to effectively address access to pharmaceutical treatments for HIV and “neglected” diseases which are widespread in many developing countries.
Recommendations include: exploiting flexibilities in the TRIPS agreement such as compulsory licences; addressing constraints other then patent protection including inadequate infrastructure, insufficient financing and high drug prices; inducing differential pricing across developed and developing markets; and bulk purchasing. The article also discusses strategies to induce innovation where treatments for neglected diseases are insufficient or lacking. Two broad approaches exist: “push mechanisms” which subsidise research inputs and “pull mechanisms” which reward innovators for research outputs. The author concludes that stronger financial and political commitments to pharmaceutical access are required from all countries, and that such a commitment is economically, morally and legally imperative.
