Global Health and Foreign Policy

Feldbaum, Harley; Lee, Kelley; Michaud, Joshua

Another key issue in the trade of health-related goods is the health impact of standardizing patent rights under the Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Given concerns that patent-protected drugs would be too expensive for the world's poor, the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (known as the Doha Declaration) affirmed in 2001 the right of World Trade Organization member states to interpret and implement TRIPS in a manner that supports public health and, in particular, access to medicines (as permitted under GATT Article XX[b]) (56) . A clarification in 2003 specified when countries can import drugs produced elsewhere under a mechanism known as ''compulsory licensing'' (57) . Despite the World Trade Organization's claim that the Doha Declaration removed the ''final patent obstacle to cheap drug imports'' (58, p. 1), the limited capacity of developing states to actually implement the available flexibilities, especially given the stricter protections found in many bilateral and regional trade agreements (known as ''TRIPSþ'' measures), demonstrates the power of economic interests over public health considerations (59) . The WHO has convened an Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights to seek an international agreement to balance innovation and access to medicines, but agreement has remained elusive and negotiations continue (60, 61) .