World Trade Organization

"Promoting Access to Medical Technologies and Innovation" examines the interplay between public health, trade and intellectual property, and how these policy domains affect medical innovation and access to medical technologies. Co-published by the World Health Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization, the study draws together the three Secretariats’ respective areas of expertise.

Over the past ten years, an increasing number of countries are initiating, negotiating and agreeing new trade agreements between two countries or amongst a group of countries. These are commonly known as free trade agreements or “FTAs”1, and they are promoted as providing significant economic benefits to signatory countries through the removal or reduction of barriers to trade in goods and services. Many political leaders have indicated that they would prefer to remove or reduce trade barriers through the multilateral system in a way that benefits all countries belonging to the World Trade Organization.

This document seeks to analyse how LDCs have utilized the 2016 extension to facilitate the production and access to HIV and other medicines for their populations; discuss what can be done to maximize the opportunities provided by the current extensions; describe the potential implications of LDCs having to implement the TRIPS Agreement with respect to pharmaceuticals and test data protection; fill the gaps in the understanding of the process for further extension of the transition period for pharmaceutical products; and provide recommendations on how LDCs should proceed to seek further extensions

Recent developments at national and international levels with regards to anti-counterfeiting legislation and actions have raised debate about such laws not undermining access to affordable generic drugs. This policy brief produced by EQUINET, SEATINI and TARSC points to the separate measures and mandates needed to combat firstly fraudulent trade mark and intellectual property (IP) infringement in counterfeit medicines by IP authorities, secondly to ensure that any anti-counterfeit measures protect TRIPS flexibilities, including for access to generic medicines.