Trips, Patents and Access to Life-Saving Drugs in the Developing World

Abstract

While the recent WTO agreement allowing developing countries to import life-saving drugs by bypassing patent laws is beneficial, a majority of the drugs used to combat epidemics are off-patent or not patented in many developing countries. Consequently, the agreement will do very little to assist those nations in preventing and treating public health crises and epidemics. Extreme poverty, lack of funding for healthcare, and little or no resources available for the storage, transport, and distribution of drugs must be addressed before there can be any hope of alleviating the suffering.

Keywords: TRIPS, intellectual property, WTO, patents, developing countries, compulsory license

JEL Classification: K33, K32, K19, I18, I34