Brinkmanship and compulsory licensing policy lessons from Brazil Online publication date: Fri, 06-Apr-2007
by Angela Amondi Wasunna
International Journal of Biotechnology (IJBT), Vol. 9, No. 2, 2007
Abstract: Approximately 660,000 Brazilians were living with HIV/AIDS in 2003, with an adult prevalence of 0.7%. Brazil currently provides free antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for 158,000 people, which is 40% of the total people on free ARV treatment globally. Brazil also produces 8 out of the 14 drugs required for its national AIDS treatment programme. In an increasingly restrictive Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) environment, multiple factors – political, legal and socio-economic – have enabled Brazil to take advantage of the threat of compulsory licensing. Today, Brazil is not only one of the main producers of generic drugs for HIV/AIDS, but it also has a successful government-administered programme. As United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan noted recently, 'Brazil is one of the few countries where programs to combat the epidemic are succeeding'. Brazil has improved access to HIV drugs by strategically exploiting the exceptions under the TRIPS agreement, thus offering valuable lessons for countries combating HIV/AIDS.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Biotechnology (IJBT):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook