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The WTO works actively with other
international organizations, representatives from civil society, the
academic community and the private sector. Its activities are
regularly carried out in close cooperation with the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The WTO is actively promoting the attainment
of Target E of MDG 8, which aims to provide access to affordable
medicines on a sustainable basis in developing countries. The past
decade has seen a strong policy emphasis on public health and access
to medicines in the WTO, with a particular focus on clarifying the way
in which flexibilities under the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) should be
interpreted and implemented regarding public health. This has included
creating an additional pathway for access to medicines.
The WTO is actively promoting the
attainment of Target E of MDG 8, which aims to provide access to
affordable medicines in developing countries
The Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement
and Public Health continues to serve as a landmark in recognizing the
linkage between the WTO system and the broader public policy issue of
health. It also serves as a benchmark for international cooperation on
intellectual property and public health (see Box 4). By bringing
together different policies and distinct areas of expertise, it has
helped build a stronger framework for multilateral cooperation on
intellectual property and public health, and supports governments in
making use of TRIPS flexibilities.
For example, countries without sufficient
manufacturing capacities can make effective use of compulsory
licensing through the so-called “Paragraph 6 System”. This gives poor
countries additional flexibility under the TRIPS Agreement to gain
access to affordable medicines. Agreed in August 2003, the “Paragraph
6” system allows generic versions of patented medicines to be made
under compulsory licence (that is, without the consent of the patent
holder) for export to countries that cannot manufacture the medicines
themselves.
Paragraph 6 is the first amendment agreed to
in the entire package of WTO rules concluded in the Uruguay Round, a
measure of the significance that WTO members have given to the
question of access to medicines. The understanding that TRIPS supports
a balanced and flexible framework for intellectual property protection
and enforcement responsive to countries’ broader policy agendas has
thus been reinforced, as well as the notion that TRIPS and its
flexibilities are part of a wider national and international action to
address public health problems.
Since the Doha Declaration was adopted,
important developments in the WTO and elsewhere have already had a
positive impact on access to medicines in developing countries. This
includes making needed medicines available − especially
anti-retroviral drugs to combat HIV/AIDS − at lower prices, enhancing
international funding and using TRIPS flexibilities to leverage access
to medicines. These developments have important repercussions for the
achievement of Target E of MDG 8 and, more broadly, they also support
Target B of MDG 6, which aims to achieve universal access to treatment
of HIV/AIDS.
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