Incentives for Global Public Health
Patent Law and Access to Essential Medicines

This book examines global health problems through the lens of public and international law, focusing on access to essential medicines.

Thomas Pogge (Edited by), Matthew Rimmer (Edited by), Kim Rubenstein (Edited by)

9780521116565, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 June 2010

536 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.9 cm, 0.98 kg

'This is a well edited collection from leading international scholars on the subject of global health, one that provides a comprehensive analysis on the role of innovation in promoting health. Although the literature on this subject is vast, this volume presents new and challenging insights. Short, focussed chapters cover a good breadth of topics and shed fresh and clear light on the public side of the debate on access to essential medicines … this book is a valuable volume that will inform and stimulate academics, health campaigners, policy makers and students.' Chamundeeswari Kuppuswamy, British Yearbook of International Law

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 health crisis Rochelle Cooper Dreyfuss
2. The TRIPS waiver as a recognition of public health concerns in the WTO Andrew Mitchell and Tania Voon
3. Public law challenges to the regulation of pharmaceutical patents in the US Bilateral Free Trade Agreements Hitoshi Nasu
4. Global health and development: patents and public interest Elizabeth Siew Kuan Ng
Part II. Innovation: 5. The Health Impact Fund: boosting innovation without obstructing free access Thomas Pogge
6. The Health Impact Fund: a critique Kathleen Liddell
7. A prize system as a partial solution to the health crisis in the developing world William W. Fisher and Talha Syed
8. Innovation and insufficient evidence: the case for a WTO-WHO agreement on health technology safety and cost-effectiveness evaluation Thomas Faunce
Part III. Intellectual Property: 9. Opening the dam: patent pools, innovation, and access to essential medicines Dianne Nicol and Jane Nielsen
10. Open source drug discovery: a revolutionary paradigm or a utopian model? Krishna Ravi Srinivas
11. Accessing and benefit sharing avian influenza viruses through the World Health Organization: a CBD and TRIPS compromise thanks to Indonesia's sovereignty claim? Charles Lawson and Barbara Hocking
12. The Lazarus effect: the (RED) campaign and creative capitalism Matthew Rimmer
Part IV. Health-Care: 13. Beyond TRIPS: the role of non-state actors and access to essential medicines Noah Benjamin Novogrodsky
14. Securing health through rights Katharine Young
15. The role of national laws in reconciling constitutional right to health with TRIPS obligations: an examination of the Glivec patent case in India Rajshree Chandra
16. Tipping point: Thai compulsory licenses redefine essential medicines debate Jonathan Burton-MacLeod.

Subject Areas: Public international law [LBB]