Does the WTO TRIPS Agreement hinder it?
J. Watal, Science, Technology and Development Discussion Paper no.8, 2000, Cambridge, Center for International Development and Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University. The paper examines whether or not it is true that the provisions of TRIPs impede access to essential medicines. The author examines the problem in accessing essential medicines, looks at the estimates of price differences of medicines on account of patents and analyses the policy options under TRIPs to increase access to essential medicines. He concludes that the TRIPs agreement can lead to substantially higher prices for patented medicines (up to 200-300 percent). The policy instruments provided under the TRIPs agreement can attenuate some of these adverse effects. The author also notes however that none of these instruments is without certain disadvantages and therefore they must be used with care.
