The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7176 p767-773
1 December 2001

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WTO reaches agreement on drug patents

The World Trade Organization has reached an agreement among its members that should make it easier for developing countries to gain access to medicines that are still under patent.

In a declaration on the WTO agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) issued after its meeting at Doha, Qatar, on 14 November, the WTO says that the TRIPS agreement does not and should not prevent countries from taking measures to protect public health. Countries have the right to interpret the TRIPS provisions flexibly, it says, determining for themselves what constitutes a national public health crisis or situation of extreme urgency. They can grant compulsory licences for the production of medicines still under patent, determining the grounds for such licences themselves.

See News feature, p775.

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