Trips, Medicines, and Patents
نویسنده
چکیده
If you had asked the average policy wonk in the field of finance or development about TRIPS, even until a few years ago, you would probably have elicited a quizzical expression of surprise and bemusement, betraying mild condescension: how important can that be compared to broader and weightier matters such as exchange rates, fiscal policy, aid, and debt? But TRIPS, or the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, including Trade in Counterfeit Goods (see box), has turned out to be one of the more significant elements of international cooperation and treaty-making in the last decade. Negotiated in the 1986-94 Uruguay Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO), TRIPS introduced intellectual property rules into the multilateral trading system for the first time and had profound consequences for developing countries. These consequences have not all been beneficial, making TRIPS a bellwether of the anti-globalization backlash in recent years, with the high prices of AIDS treatments putting an ethical spotlight on patent protection. Ironically, and as a testament to the iron law of unintended consequences, TRIPS may well prove to have as great an impact on medicines and health policy in industrial countries.
منابع مشابه
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