Trade, intellectual property, and the public health bearing

ABSTRACT

The objective of this article is to describe the current fracture between global trade and public health priorities, as well as examine opportunities for harmonisation. A literature review of public health, global trade, and intellectual property articles describes several issues with recommendations. Currently, there is mixed quality of research and a lack of health impact assessments to accompany the global trade agenda. Human rights concepts continue in debate as flexibilities to trade laws remain without organised surveillance or evaluation. There are specific, relevant recommendations to implement a trade agenda inclusive of public health leadership. Recent trade and intellctual property advances in public health collaborations should be supported and continued. Trade groups should produce impact assessments before decisions on policies are made, with quality to the research. Lastly, a global research and development treaty should be an open, accessed path.

KEYWORDS:

• Trade
• intellectual property
• trade policy
• health policy

Abbreviations

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)

Antiretroviral therapy (ART)

Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development (CEWG)

Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH)

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)

Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA)

General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)

General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT)

Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS)

Health Impact Assessment (HIA)

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)

International nonproprietary names (INN)

Intellectual Property (IP)

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD)

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Public–private partnerships (PPPs)

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

Research and Development (R&D)

Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS)

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

Traditional Knowledge (TK)

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

Transferable Intellectual Property Rights (TIPR)

U.N. Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

World Health Assembly (WHA)

World Health Organization (WHO)

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Consent for publication

The author consents to publication of this article.

Availability of data and material

There is no original data to aggregate or report.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

The author is the sole author of this manuscript

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.