the politics behind the implementation of the wto paragraph 6 decision in canada to increase global drug access实施wto第六段背后的政治决定在加拿大增加全球药物访问.pdfVIP

Esmail and Kohler Globalization and Health 2012, 8:7 /content/8/1/7 RESEARCH Open Access The politics behind the implementation of the WTO Paragraph 6 Decision in Canada to increase global drug access * Laura C Esmail and Jillian Clare Kohler Abstract Background: The reform of pharmaceutical policy can often involve trade-offs between competing social and commercial goals. Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR), a legislative amendment that permits compulsory licensing for the production and export of medicines to developing countries, aimed to reconcile these goals. Since it was passed in 2004, only two orders of antiretroviral drugs, enough for 21,000 HIV/AIDS patients in Rwanda have been exported. Future use of the regime appears unlikely. This research aimed to examine the politics of CAMR. Methods: Parliamentary Committee hearing transcripts from CAMR’s legislative development (2004) and legislative review (2007) were analysed using a content analysis technique to identify how stakeholders who participated in the debates framed the issues. These findings were subsequently analysed using a framework of framing, institutions and interests to determine how these three dimensions shaped CAMR. Results: In 2004, policy debates in Canada were dominated by two themes: intellectual property rights and the TRIPS Agreement. The right to medicines as a basic human right and CAMR’s potential impact on innovation were hardly discussed. With the Departments of Industry Canada and International Trade as the lead institutions, the goals of protecting intellectual property and ensuring good trade relations with the United States appear to have taken priority over encouraging generic competition to achieve drug affordability. The result was a more limited interpretation of patent flexibil