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Is Compulsory Licensing Bad for Public Health? Some Critical Comments on Drug Accessibility in Developing Countries

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  • Samira Guennif

    (Centre d’économie de l’Université Paris Nord)

Abstract

As one of the flexibilities provided by the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) establishing minimum standards for the protection of property rights, compulsory license (CL) represents a means towards the protection of public health issues within a context of stringent protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs), most notably in poor-resource settings. However, recent literature asserts that CL constitutes a serious limitation to the full enjoyment of property rights by innovators and may therefore threaten drug accessibility in developing countries. This paper outlines the impact of CL on drug accessibility in developing countries by addressing the three main dimensions of accessibility (availability, affordability and quality) and proceeding to a literature survey of key arguments for and against CL. It concludes that CL inhibits neither the availability of essential drugs nor the affordability of life-saving treatments or the supply of high-quality drugs in developing countries, in particular antiretroviral drugs.

Suggested Citation

  • Samira Guennif, 2017. "Is Compulsory Licensing Bad for Public Health? Some Critical Comments on Drug Accessibility in Developing Countries," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 557-565, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:aphecp:v:15:y:2017:i:5:d:10.1007_s40258-017-0306-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s40258-017-0306-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ebenezer Tetteh, 2009. "Implementing differential pricing for essential medicines via country-specific bilateral negotiated discounts," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 71-89, June.
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    3. Samira Guennif, 2011. "Access to Essential Drugs in Thailand: Intellectual Property Rights and Other Institutional Matters Affecting Public Health in a Developing Country," Chapters, in: Kenneth C. Shadlen & Samira Guennif & Alenka Guzmán & Narayanan Lalitha (ed.), Intellectual Property, Pharmaceuticals and Public Health, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Samira Guennif & Shyama V. Ramani, 2012. "Explaining divergence in catching-up in pharmaceuticals between India and Brazil using the National System Innovation framework," Post-Print hal-01345868, HAL.
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    6. Charitini Stavropoulou & Tommaso Valletti, 2015. "Compulsory licensing and access to drugs," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 16(1), pages 83-94, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ezgi Demir & Peter M. Bican, 2023. "Patents and Sustainable Medical Treatment in Developing Countries: Lessons from COVID-19 Vaccines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-19, February.

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