The likely impact of trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) in Mozambique : the case of anti-malarial drugs

Since 1994, there has been a lot of attention drawn on the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as the most important international instrument ever negotiated in this area. TRIPS establishes minimum universal standards in all areas of intellectual property and the intention is to implement these standards globally through a strong enforcement mechanism established in WTO. These standards affect pharmaceuticals, which many countries had previously excluded from patent protection in order to produce drugs at reduced prices and hence contribute to the improvement of public health. But now any Member State must comply with these minimum standards since failure to do so will result to the WTO dispute settlement system. No extensive review of the practical implications of the TRIPS Agreement has taken place at the global and national levels. The main objective of this paper is to examine the likely impact of this agreement on anti-malarial drugs in Mozambique. Given the persistence of the malaria epidemic in the country and the resistance to the drugs being utilized for this disease there is an acknowledged need for a new drug to eradicate the problem. The problem is that this new drug is likely to be under patent and this country has relied on generic drugs for all its existence and being a Member of the WTO Agreement they now have to wait until patents on the required drugs have expired or be submissive to the more expensive original brand. To accomplish this objective and to ascertain the end result of the above situation, past experiences were a major tool. By reviewing experiences of less developed countries in relation to patent protection and pharmaceuticals, some conclusions were made possible. In order to narrow down the conclusions drawn from these country experiences, a study was done in the Mozambican public sector by reviewing and analyzing the existing laws and regulations pertaining to pharmaceuticals and patent protection. This was done through questionnaires and interviews of the main stakeholders in this area. With this information the researcher was able to describe where Mozambique stands in relation to patents and how this might affect the pharmaceutical industry as a Member of the WTO agreement in the long run. This study therefore, relies heavily on secondary data.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

School of Economics

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Matsinhe, Tania Romana

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Rehnberg, Clas

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6990

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6990