# \[e-drug\] Attaran/Gillespie-White and PhRMA patent surveys (cont'd)

**URL:** https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-attaran-gillespie-white-and-phrma-patent-surveys-contd/12695
**Category:** e-drug
**Created:** [October 17, 2001, 10:46am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-attaran-gillespie-white-and-phrma-patent-surveys-contd/12695 "2001-10-17T10:46:25Z")
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#### Post date: [October 17, 2001, 10:46am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-attaran-gillespie-white-and-phrma-patent-surveys-contd/12695/1 "2001-10-17T10:46:25Z")

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E-drug: Attaran/Gillespie-White and PhRMA patent surveys (cont'd)  
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[I just received the abstract of the article by Attaran &  
Gillespie-White in JAMA. Copied as fair use. HH]

Do Patents for Antiretroviral Drugs Constrain Access to AIDS  
Treatment in Africa?

Amir Attaran, DPhil, LLB; Lee Gillespie-White, LLB

Public attention and debate recently have focused on access to  
treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in poor,  
severely affected countries, such as those in Africa. Whether  
patents on antiretroviral drugs in Africa are impeding access to  
lifesaving treatment for the 25 million Africans with human  
immunodeficiency virus infection is unknown. We studied the  
patent statuses of 15 antiretroviral drugs in 53 African countries.  
Using a survey method, we found that these antiretroviral drugs are  
patented in few African countries (median, 3; mode, 0) and that in  
countries where antiretroviral drug patents exist, generally only a  
small subset of antiretroviral drugs are patented (median and mode,  
4). The observed scarcity of patents cannot be simply explained by  
a lack of patent laws because most African countries have offered  
patent protection for pharmaceuticals for many years. Furthermore,  
in this particular case, geographic patent coverage does not appear  
to correlate with antiretroviral treatment access in Africa,  
suggesting that patents and patent law are not a major barrier to  
treatment access in and of themselves. We conclude that a variety  
of de facto barriers are more responsible for impeding access to  
antiretroviral treatment, including but not limited to the poverty of  
African countries, the high cost of antiretroviral treatment, national  
regulatory requirements for medicines, tariffs and sales taxes, and,  
above all, a lack of sufficient international financial aid to fund  
antiretroviral treatment. We consider these findings in light of  
policies for enhancing antiretroviral treatment access in poor  
countries.

JAMA. 2001;286:1886-1892

Author Affiliations: Center for International Development and  
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge,  
Mass (Dr Attaran); International Intellectual Property Institute,  
Washington, DC (Ms Gillespie-White).

Corresponding Author and Reprints: Amir Attaran, DPhil, LLB,  
Center for International Development, Harvard University, 79 JFK  
St, Cambridge, MA 02138 (e-mail: amir\_attaran@harvard.edu).

Author Contributions: Study concept and design: Attaran,  
Gillespie-White.

Acquisition of data: Attaran, Gillespie-White.

Analysis and interpretation of data: Attaran, Gillespie-White.

Drafting of the manuscript: Attaran, Gillespie-White.

Statistical expertise: Attaran.

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