Incentives for Global Public Health: Patent Law and Access to Essential Medicines [Hardcover]

This book examines global health problems through the lens of public and international law, focusing on access to essential medicines.Drawing upon trade law, innovation policy, intellectual property law, health law, human rights and philosophy, this volume analyses the global health crisis and demonstrates how a combination of public and international law is essential to the development of creative solutions to the problems relating to access to essential medicines.Drawing upon trade law, innovation policy, intellectual property law, health law, human rights and philosophy, this volume analyses the global health crisis and demonstrates how a combination of public and international law is essential to the development of creative solutions to the problems relating to access to essential medicines.This portrait of the global debate over patent law and access to essential medicines focuses on public health concerns about HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, the SARS virus, influenza, and diseases of poverty. The essays explore the diplomatic negotiations and disputes in key international fora, such as the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Drawing upon international trade law, innovation policy, intellectual property law, health law, human rights and philosophy, the authors seek to canvass policy solutions which encourage and reward worthwhile pharmaceutical innovation while ensuring affordable access to advanced medicines. A number of creative policy options are critically assessed, including the development of a Health Impact Fund, prizes for medical innovation, the use of patent pools, open-source drug development and forms of 'creative capitalism'.Introduction: access to essential medicines: public health and international law Thomas Pogge, Matthew Rimmer and Kim Rubenstein; Part I. International Trade: 1. TRIPS and essential medicines: must one size fit all? Making the WTO responsive to the global hlC,