Articles

• Sun, Haochen

Abstract

Designed to respond to concerns about the negative impact of the TRIPS Agreement on access to medicines, the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (Doha Declaration), adopted at the Doha Ministerial Conference, explicitly clarified for the first time what flexibilities inherent in the TRIPS Agreement can be used by WTO Members to combat a public health crisis. Nevertheless, the Doha Declaration did not fully dismantle the obstacles created by the TRIPS Agreement. Even after the most recent agreement on access to generic medicines in poor countries, serious differences of interpretation and implementation difficulties under the TRIPS Agreement are likely to persist. This article explores the global debate on the TRIPS Agreement and public health, as it has evolved over the years. Specifically, it focuses on the implications, and limitations, of the Doha Declaration. It is argued that the TRIPS Agreement should be implemented and interpreted so as to allow WTO Members the maximum flexibility in increasing access to essential medicines for all.