Improving Access to HIV/AIDS Medicines in Africa : Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Flexibilities

The study begins with an overview of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement and its flexibilities, delineating the legal requirements of the TRIPS agreement regarding their use. It then examines the challenges entailed in the beneficial interpretation and implementation of the TRIPS agreement at both the national and regional levels under the auspices of African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI). The next section reviews the domestic antiretroviral (ARV) production experiences of Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana with an eye for evaluating the option of sustainable local production. The study is based on existing literature and on interaction with various key players and resource persons in government institutions, the private sector, and civil society groups, especially nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) at the national level. Information was gathered from officials of the regional patent institutions, OAPI and ARIPO, along with official documents of these institutions. International organizations involved in HIV/AIDS work in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) also provided input. The study was conducted under considerable time and logistical constraints, making it difficult to meet and interview all the persons that the authors wished to consult during travel across the African continent. Another limitation was the lack of an easily accessible database on ARVs and other HIV/AIDS medicines being used in Africa, their patent status, and their relative prices. National drug procurement bodies were often reluctant to divulge information on prices and quantities of medicines obtained.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Osewe, Patrick L., Nkrumah, Yvonne K., Sackey, Emmanuel K.
Format:	Publication biblioteca
Language:	en_US
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2010-04-20
Subjects:	adequate remuneration, administrative procedures, administrative process, administrative processes, affordable access, Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects, anticompetitive practices, applicable law, bargaining power, best practice, best practices, bilateral agreement, Biotechnology, brain tumors, capacity-building, civil society, Common Market, compulsory licenses, Copyright, decision making, dermatitis, developing world, dispute settlement, Dispute Settlement Body, domestic industries, domestic laws, domestic legislation, domestic market, E-mail, Economic Community, European Union, exchange rate, expiry date, exporting country, external market, foreign exchange, global market, global trading, government expenditure, government policy, harmonization, headaches, health care, Health Services, hospitals, immunodeficiency, implementation strategies, import duty, importing countries, importing country, industrial property, information flow, innovation, innovations, institutional capacity, Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Organization, intellectual property right, Intellectual Property Rights, international agreements, International Bank, international conventions, international law, international levels, International organizations, invention, inventions, IP, joint ventures, laws, legal basis, legal framework, legal instruments, legal requirements, legal status, license, Licensing, licensing agreements, local industry, local market, Local Production, manufacturing, market share, marketing, material, Medicines, member countries, member state, member states, minimum standards, Ministerial Conference, mutual recognition, national laws, national legislation, neighboring countries, nontariff barriers, Patent, patent application, patent applications, patent holders, patent law, patent laws, patent protection, patent rights, patent systems, Patentability, patented drugs, Patented products, Patents, patients, pdf, Photo, policy makers, preferential treatment, private sector, procurement, procurement practices, procurement processes, production process, production processes, Protection Article, protection of intellectual property, protocols, Public Health, public interest, public opinion, public sector, purchasing power, quality control, quality of life, queries, regional basis, regional bodies, regional groups, regional institutions, regional level, regional organizations, Regional Trade, regulatory approval, regulatory authorities, regulatory framework, regulatory regimes, result, results, right holder, royalties, Sahara, search, searches, secure access, Social security, standardization, Sub-Saharan Africa, subsidiary rights, supervision, technical assistance, technical knowledge, technological development, technological knowledge, technology transfer, Telephone, The Gambia, trade areas, trade dispute, trade negotiations, trade rules, trade sanctions, trading system, transition period, Transition Periods, TRIPS Agreement, Unfair Competition, universal access, users, uses, utility model, utility models, virus, workers, World Trade, World Trade Organization,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13542
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