Can Compulsory Licensing Improve Access to Essential Medicines?

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Bird
Keyword(s):  
Essential Medicines ◽  
Compulsory Licensing ◽  
Access To Essential Medicines ◽  
Improve Access

Give the Poor Patients a Chance: Enhancing Access to Essential Medicines through Compulsory Licensing

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakkrit Kuanpoth
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Patent Protection ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Essential Medicines ◽  
General View ◽  
Compulsory Licensing ◽  
Important Relationship ◽  
Patent Rights ◽  
Thai Government ◽  
Access To Essential Medicines

The important relationship between pharmaceutical patents and problem of inaccessibility of medicines by poor nations is exemplified more clearly by the experiences of developing countries in Asia. Thailand is one of these developing countries which has the most experience of the negative impact of stronger patent protection. The paper provides a general view of the problem of the inaccessibility of lifesaving medicines in Thailand. It also discusses the attempts of the Thai Government to use an available legal measure (ie compulsory licensing) to control the abuse of pharmaceutical patent rights, and provides a theoretical and practical analysis of various legal issues relating to the use of the non-voluntary licensing scheme to improve access to essential medicines.

scholarly journals The People's Vaccine: Intellectual Property, Access to Essential Medicines, and the Coronavirus COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Rimmer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
The United States ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Essential Medicines ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Compulsory Licensing ◽  
Public Health Crisis ◽  
Access To Essential Medicines

This paper explores intellectual property and access to essential medicines in the context of the coronavirus COVID-19 public health crisis. It considers policy solutions to counteract vaccine nationalism and profiteering by pharmaceutical companies and vaccine developers. This paper considers the campaign for the development of a People's Vaccine led by the People’s Vaccine Alliance, UNAIDS, Oxfam and Public Citizen. The WHO has established the ACT Accelerator in order to boost research, development, and deployment of COVID-19 technologies. However, the operation of COVAX thus far has been falling short of its original ambitions. The Medicines Patent Pool has expanded its jurisdiction to include the sharing of intellectual property related to COVID-19. Meanwhile, Costa Rica has proposed a COVID-19 Technology Access Pool – an idea for a new institutional structure which has been taken up by the WHO. In the context of the coronavirus public health crisis, there has also been discussion of the use of compulsory licensing and crown use to counteract profiteering and anti-competitive behavior. There has been a push by Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) and others for the public licensing of COVID-19 technologies developed with government funding. The Open COVID Pledge has been taken by a number of intellectual property owners. In response to the assertion of proprietary rights in respect of COVID-19 technologies, the open movement has championed the development of Open Science models of science. India and South Africa have put forward a waiver proposal in the TRIPS Council to enable countries to take action in respect of COVID-19 without fear of retribution under trade laws. While the United States has been willing to support a TRIPS Waiver for vaccines, there remain a number of opponents to a TRIPS Waiver – including the European Union, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. This paper makes the case that international intellectual property law should accommodate a People's Vaccine.

Strategies to improve the availability of medicines in primary health care in Brazil: findings and implications

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-253
Author(s):  
Mariana M Barbosa ◽  
Renata CRM Nascimento ◽  
Marina M Garcia ◽  
Francisco A Acurcio ◽  
Brian Godman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Essential Medicines ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Access To Essential Medicines ◽  
Availability Index ◽  
Descriptive Survey ◽  
Improve Access

Aim: Access to essential medicines is a key component of managing patients in ambulatory care. In 2008, the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, created the Pharmacy Network of Minas (Rede Farmácia de Minas [RFM]) program to improve access to medicines, increasing availability and restructuring the infrastructures. The aim was to assess the current situation, comparing municipalities with and without RFM. Materials & methods: Descriptive survey study, data collected from 2014 July to May 2015. Availability was verified by stock levels. Results: The drug availability index was 61.0%, higher in municipalities with RFM. Most physicians considered the pharmaceutical services as good/very good. The main reasons for medicines shortage were ‘financial transference problems’, ‘insufficient financial resources’ and ‘budget’. Conclusion: Strategies, such as the RFM can promote improvements in medicine availability.

scholarly journals Mapping actions to improve access to medicines for mental disorders in low and middle income countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 481-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Barbui ◽  
T. Dua ◽  
K. Kolappa ◽  
B. Saraceno ◽  
S. Saxena
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Essential Medicines ◽  
World Health ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Appropriate Use ◽  
Psychotropic Medicines ◽  
Access To Essential Medicines ◽  
Evidence Based Guidelines ◽  
Improve Access

Aims.In recent years a number of intergovernmental initiatives have been activated in order to enhance the capacity of countries to improve access to essential medicines, particularly for mental disorders. In May 2013 the 66th World Health Assembly adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2020, which builds upon the work of WHO's Mental Health Gap Action Programme. Within this programme, evidence-based guidelines for mental disorders were developed, including recommendations on appropriate use of medicines. Subsequently, the 67th World Health Assembly adopted a resolution on access to essential medicines, which urged Member States to improve national policies for the selection of essential medicines and to promote their availability, affordability and appropriate use.Methods.Following the precedent set by these important initiatives, this article presents eleven actions for improving access and appropriate use of psychotropic medicines.Results.A 4 × 4 framework mapping actions as a function of the four components of access – selection, availability, affordability and appropriate use – and across four different health care levels, three of which belong to the supply side and one to the demand side, was developed. The actions are: developing a medicine selection process; promoting information and education activities for staff and end-users; developing a medicine regulation process; implementing a reliable supply system; implementing a reliable quality-control system; developing a community-based system of mental health care and promoting help-seeking behaviours; developing international agreements on medicine affordability; developing pricing policies and a sustainable financing system; developing or adopting evidence-based guidelines; monitoring the use of psychotropic medicines; promoting training initiatives for staff and end-users on critical appraisal of scientific evidence and appropriate use of psychotropic medicines.Conclusions.Activating these actions offers an unique opportunity to address the broader issue of increasing access to treatments and care for mental disorders, as current lack of attention to mental disorders is a central barrier across all domains of the 4 × 4 access framework.

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