The DOHA Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, Access to Pharmaceuticals, and Options Under WTO Law

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Attaran
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Trips Agreement ◽  
Health Access ◽  
Doha Declaration

The WTO Medicines Decision: World Pharmaceutical Trade and the Protection of Public Health

2005 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Abbott
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Trips Agreement ◽  
Compulsory Licensing ◽  
The World ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Pharmaceutical Trade ◽  
Doha Declaration

On November 14,2001, the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, meeting in Doha, Qatar, adopted the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (Doha Declaration). The declaration affirms that the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights “can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO Members’ right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all,” and it reaffirms that the Agreement “provide[s] flexibility for this purpose.” The Doha Declaration mandated further negotiations on one important subject, providing in its paragraph 6: “We recognize that WTO Members with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector could face difficulties in making effective use of compulsory licensing under the TRIPS Agreement. We instruct the Council for TRIPS to find an expeditious solution to this problem … .“

The Use of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (2001): A Review of Implementation Experiences in the Developing Countries

2012 ◽  
pp. 186-209
Author(s):  
Alexandra Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Trips Agreement ◽  
Compulsory Licensing ◽  
Trade Regime ◽  
Council Decision ◽  
Internal Barriers ◽  
Doha Declaration

Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (2001) recognized the difficulty of some WTO member states in using the compulsory licensing flexibility allowed in the TRIPS Agreement due to their lack of local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacities. However, there has been almost no implementation by countries of the subsequent WTO General Council decision of 30th August, 2003 which was designed to resolve this Paragraph 6 issue. This is due to the existence of various impediments – generally in the form of external and internal barriers. A comparative analysis is undertaken of the implementation of the Council Decision in two countries with varying levels of development and with different obligations with regards to enforcement of the TRIPS Agreement. It is shown that external barriers such as proliferation of bilateral agreements have more impeding effect on developing countries such as South Africa which are already part of the full TRIPS compliance regime. Conversely, internal barriers such as institutional and structural drawbacks have more of an impact in Least Developing Countries (LDCs) such as Bangladesh which have been given a transition period for TRIPS compliance and are not yet fully susceptible to external pressures of the international trade regime. The increased preference of countries to use alternative innovative mechanisms such as the Medicines Patent Pool to improve access to medicine outside the framework of the global IP/Trade regime reiterates the unworkability of the Council Decision in promoting access to medicines.

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