Access to life-saving pharmaceuticals should never be a problem. Unfortunately, it often is – as has become painfully obvious in the current coronavirus pandemic. Developing countries and emerging markets often lack things that people take for granted in more prosperous nations. The speeds in which vaccination campaigns are progressing are diverging dramatically. Therefore, the debate on the protection of intellectual property rights has re-erupted. The matter is of longterm relevance.
This briefing is pertinent to the United Nations’ third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG3): Good health and well-being. It also has a bearing on several other SDGs.
Pharma supply and intellectual property in pandemic response Patents, pharmaceuticals and health care Malawian patients waiting for their jab in March 2021.