Pharmaceutical Patents And The Hiv/Aids Pandemic
...October 1, 2007
Of all the global pandemics affecting the people of the world, few have received the attention that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus has and for good reason. HIV represents one of the greatest health threats towards humanity in the world today. The best possible figures suggest that as of December 2006, approximately 39.1 million people in the world have HIV, making it one of the most prevalent diseases in the world (UNAIDS, Global Epidemic Report, 2006, 7). To make matters worse, it continues to spread at an alarming rate. Approximately 4.3 million people became infected with HIV last year (UNAIDS, Global Epidemic Report, 2006, 7). Estimates suggest that 2.9 million people died in 2006 as a result of Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome, which is the resultant syndrome associated with HIV (UNAIDS, Global Epidemic Report, 2006, 7). The World Health Organization estimates that HIV/AIDS annually kills 900,000-750,000 more people than the next two most deadly infectious diseases, Tuberculosis and Malaria (WHO, “World Health Statistics…,” 2007). While there is neither a cure or a vaccine for HIV/AIDS many medications that can greatly lengthen the lives of HIV patients and improve their quality of life have been created. Although virtually every nation of the world has reported cases of HIV, many people in need these life-sustaining HIV/AIDS medications are unable to receive them due to the nature of international trade agreements dealing with pharmaceutical companies.
International intellectual property concerning HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals has been developed by the Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS, agreement created by the World Trade Organization (WTO, “TRIPS and Pharmaceutical Patents…,” 2006). Currently, TRIPS gives patent holders twenty years over which they have the explicit right to produce and market...
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