RESEARCH ARTICLE
Patent Pools for ARVs: Industry Perspectives from ASPEN
Stavros Nicolaou*
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2010Volume: 4
First Page: 60
Last Page: 61
Publisher ID: TOAIDJ-4-60
DOI: 10.2174/1874613601004020060
Article History:
Received Date: 25/5/2009Revision Received Date: 1/7/2009
Acceptance Date: 3/8/2009
Collection year: 1/2010
Electronic publication date: 19/1/2010
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Affordability through reduced pricing is only one part of enhancing access to treatment in Public Health emergencies: Supply Security and the guarantee of supply consistency is the other.
To the extent that Patent Pooling is able to create Regional African Manufacturing capability, Africans will support the concept. However, to the extent that if further decentralises manufacture away from the continent and increases Africa’s dependence on imports, Patent Pooling can potentially weaken supply security and will continue to relegate Africa a Continent of dependency, rather than one that invests in its own capability.
Patent Pooling, should be viewed guardedly on the African Continent and will only be embraced, provided it is consistent with the AU Heads of State call for an African Manufacturing Plan and Africa’s aspiration to more from “converting charity dollars into sustainable, long term investment dollars”.
