Negotiating Health: Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines

by Pedro Roffe (Editor), Geoff Tansey (Editor), David Vivas-Eugui (Editor)

In developing countries, access to affordable medicines for the treatment of diseases such as AIDS and malaria remains a matter of life or death. In Africa, for instance, more than one million children die each year from malaria alone, a figure which could soon be far higher with the extension of patent rules for pharmaceuticals. Previously, access to essential medicines was made possible by the supply of much cheaper generics, manufactured largely by India; from 2005, however, the availability of these drugs is threatened as new WTO rules take effect. Halting the spread of malaria and HIV/AIDS is one of the eight Millennium Goals adopted at the UN Millennium Summit, which makes this a timely and topical book. Informed analysis is provided by internationally renowned contributors who look at the post-2005 world and discuss how action may be taken to ensure that intellectual property regimes are interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive to the right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all.

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2005

Reviews

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good in-depth look at IP, data exclusivity, and innovation balanced with the mechanisms of international development, trade, production of medicine (branded & generic). Authors consider economic, global public health, and issues of equality and fairness (to both private & public sector) using the mechanisms of IP/data/international regulatory enforcement to propose an international schemata whereby developed nations and LDCs can exchange in a fair, yet equitable, exchange of medical resources without infringing (too much) on innovator's patents if possible. Also discusses mechanisms by which patents can be by-passed in "countries-in-need."

Interesting read, but some of the language in certain sections are overly didactic / historical and could be livened by a more "practical" approach. However, international relations books tend to be written in this fashion and as such, this book was no exception.