E-DRUG: Access to Medicines and Intellectual Property Rights
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The UK Department for International Development (DFID) (www.dfid.gov.uk) has been keen to promote "Access To Medicines" for some time and has an active ATM team. All ATM information is available from http://www.dfid.gov.uk/aboutdfid/organisation/accessmedicines.asp
In July 2004, the UK government published a new policy paper on how it wanted to increase access to essential medicines in the developing world (full text downloadable from http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Pubs/files/accessmedicines.pdf)
The ATM team has now published a series of papers looking at the impact of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) on access to medicines. The papers are available from the DFID Health Resource Centre website: http://www.dfidhealthrc.org/shared/know_the/publications.html
Quick overview of the 7 studies and the overview paper:
- Access to medicines in under-served countries: What are the implications of changes in intellectual property rights, trade and drug registration policy?
- Processes and issues for improving access to medicines: willingness and ability to utilise TRIPS flexibilities in non-producing countries
- Willingness and ability to use TRIPS flexibilities: Kenya case study
- A survey of policy and practice on the use of access to medicines-related TRIPS flexibilities in Malawi
- The effect of changing intellectual property on pharmaceutical industry prospects in India and China: considerations for access to medicines
- Emerging challenges and opportunities in drug registration and regulation in developing countries
- Processes and issues for improving access to medicines: the evidence base for domestic production and greater access to medicines
- Leveraging the private sector for public health objectives: a briefing paper for DFID on technology transfer in the pharmaceuticals sector
E-drug and IP-Health have been invited to introduce these papers and act as a platform for discussion.
Your E-drug and IP-Health moderators will "present" the studies one by one over the coming weeks, and hopes that there will be plenty of debate!
Wilbert Bannenberg
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Wilbert Bannenberg, E-drug moderator
Email: wjb@planet.nl
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