is Aiding the Covid-19 Response
Suggestions for Change
A new briefing paper series from Medicines Law & Policy
Incentives: Suggestions for Change
documenting use of TRIPS Flexibilities
to increase access to medicines worldwide.
policy recommendations and tools to aid practitioners
working on universal access to medicines.
Covid shows the world it needs new rules to deal with pandemics
The World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s annual decision-making meeting, begins next week and will run from 24 May – 1 June. A critical issue for its consideration is the WHO’s leadership in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and how both WHO and the international community can more effectively bring this current crisis […]
Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response: Uneven access to vaccination is pre-eminent problem
The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR) today released its findings in a report titled “Covid-19: Make it the last pandemic,” laying out recommendations for “system-level change … needed to overcome the manifest failure of the international system to prevent, contain and mitigate the impact of a pandemic.” The full report will be […]
US supports the Covid-19 TRIPS Waiver for vaccines; Now, technology sharing must become a reality
The United States Government announced on 5 May a bold move to drop its opposition to the proposal to waive intellectual property rights related to Covid-19 health products for the duration of the pandemic (“TRIPS waiver”), first proposed by India and South Africa on 2 October 2020 at the World Trade Organization. “This is a […]
BMJ Commentary: Overriding drug and medical technology patents for pandemic recovery: a legitimate move for high-income countries, too
Interest in the use of compulsory licensing is making a comeback in high-income countries in response to concerns about access to Covid-19 vaccines and therapies. Compulsory licensing of patents can, under certain circumstances, be a useful strategy for public health, but high-income countries may face challenges making effective use of the measure. Many HICs have, […]
Ensuring that intellectual property rights aren’t a barrier to scaling-up: the remarkable example of penicillin production in the United States during World War II.
This week various international bodies are tackling different challenges in meeting the urgent problem of scaling-up manufacture of and access to vaccines for Covid-19. On 13 April, the World Health Organization in cooperation with the Argentinian Ministry of Health, launched the third Fair Pricing Forum. The meeting seeks to identify ways to improve access to […]
Dutch Health Care Institute Says No to Medicines Pirate
It seems the Dutch health care system and health care professionals are fed up with the abuse of the orphan medicines regulation, which is meant to promote the development of medicines for rare diseases. Some companies have instead registered already known products with the European Medicines Agency, claiming them as their own to exploit market […]