Kenya
Left on Our Own: COVID-19, TRIPS-Plus Free Trade Agreements, and the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health
By Melissa Omino and Joanna Kahumbu
The cusp of the twentieth anniversary of the WTO Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (hereafter “the Declaration”) was marked by a global pandemic. The Declaration and its iteration in the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (hereafter “TRIPS”) Article 31 bis, should have helped to contain the devastation in least developed and developing countries. The reality is that the pandemic is still ongoing, and the Global South led by South Africa and India are seeking a waiver of provisions to the TRIPS Agreement to ensure that COVID-19 therapeutics, diagnostics, and vaccines reach their citizens in order to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus (“the TRIPS waiver”). These citizens are especially vulnerable because of their inability to access vaccines due to their prices and supply shortages caused by the refusal to share manufacturing technology. The Doha Declaration aimed at reaffirming the interpretation and implementation of the TRIPS Agreement to support WTO members’ right to protect public health and promote access to medicines. However, the operationalization of the Declaration via Article 31bis of TRIPS has been cumbersome and procedurally difficult to navigate. This paper argues that the current iteration of the Doha Declaration within TRIPS fails to meet the objectives of the Declaration as demonstrated by the need for a further waiver of the TRIPS agreement. It also attempts to “reimagine” Article 31 bis in light of the TRIPS waiver from the position of the Global South to make it more equitable and practicable and maintain the spirit of the Declaration.
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The Right to Health in Pharmaceutical Patent Disputes
by Emmanuel Kolawole Oke
This paper examines how the courts in three developing countries (Kenya, South Africa, and India) have addressed the tension between patent rights on pharmaceutical products and the right to health. The paper begins by examining the nature of the relationship between patent rights and the right to health. It thereafter explores the justiciability of the right to health in Kenya, South Africa, and India. Furthermore, the paper provides an analysis of how the courts in these three developing countries have adjudicated some of the pharmaceutical patent cases involving tensions between the right to health and patent rights. The paper contends that by incorporating the right to health into the adjudication of patent disputes, courts in developing countries can play a crucial role in improving access to medicines at affordable prices.
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First African Fiscal Policy Forum
Inequalities in Taxing Rights
Thursday, 16 December 2021, 02:00 PM (South African Standard Time), Virtual Meeting
The Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CODA) and the South Centre, together with other key stakeholders are co-organizing a series of dialogues to discuss and address the issues related to stemming IFFs from Africa.
The main objective of this dialogue series is to bring together key stakeholders to discuss the current global processes towards combatting IFFs, re-allocation of taxing rights, the role of African regional institutions, the importance and place of Africa’s voice and representation in these processes.
The dialogue series will examine the legitimacy of these processes, including the nature of Africa’s representation in the global conversations and the outcome of the processes with respect to Africa’s interest.
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Malaria and Dengue: Understanding two infectious diseases affecting developing countries and their link to climate change
By Mirza Alas
Developing countries will face more complex challenges as infectious disease patterns transform due to climate change and climate variability. These challenges include how to reduce the incidence of malaria (including the significant challenge of resistant malaria), dengue, and other vector-borne and water-borne diseases that are likely to experience alterations in geographical range and lengthening of the transmission seasons due to changing temperatures and rain patterns. Climate extremes, e.g., heat and floods, are implicating the spread of climate-sensitive infectious diseases such as dengue and malaria transmitted by vectors like mosquitoes. In the context of growing financial pressure on governments due to COVID-19, the ensuing fiscal challenges may severely limit the capacity to effectively respond to health challenges in countries already affected by malaria and dengue. Other countries that have made gains in controlling vector-borne infections could also be vulnerable to rising disease burden. This research paper aims to analyze how changes in malaria and dengue pose a challenge for developing countries as they prepare mitigation and adaptation strategies for climate health. The paper will also provide some general recommendations on the importance of integration of health in national climate change strategies.
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