On 1 January 2005, the agreement
on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (hereinafter TRIPS)
came into force in Egypt, which is now bound by international law to implement
its duties under this agreement in order to ensure full protection of
intellectual property rights, including copyright, trademarks and patent rights.
A large proportion of modern
drugs enjoy patent protection in developed countries, allowing multinational
companies a monopoly over the production and sale of these drugs. However,
generic drugs (manufactured in developing countries with or without the
permission of the patent owner) have been utilised across the third world to
reduce prices of essential drugs.
Traditionally, many developing
countries do not provide patent protection, or provide only limited protection,
for pharmaceutical products and Egypt has been one of the countries that has
granted limited protection to pharmaceutical products. However, as the agreement
on the trade related aspects of intellectual property (TRIPS) comes into force
in many large developing countries in 2005, including in
Egypt, these
countries will have to extend full protection to pharmaceutical products.
Many of the medicines in the
developing world are generic medicines manufactured by a process of reverse
engineering in countries such as India or Brazil.
For countries that have relied on this supply of essential drugs the
implementation of the TRIPS agreement will have a retrogressive effect on the
delivery of essential drugs.
Even for countries that have
generally relied on voluntary licences, such as South Africa or Egypt, the
international enforcement of TRIPS limits the options available to the state in
the face of a health crisis. Furthermore, for the previously mentioned
countries, the reduction in supply of generic medicines from countries with a
large generic drugs industry like India and Brazil may have the effect of
increasing global prices for medicines which will, in turn, have a negative
effect on countries where the local industries rely on voluntary licences.
This policy paper examines the
normative rules of TRIPS as part of international law and the TRIPS compliant
legislation on pharmaceutical products introduced by the Egyptian government.
The paper analyses the expected effect of TRIPS on the ability of the Egyptian
government to fulfil its legal obligations to protect its citizens’ right to
health. It concludes with recommendations to the Egyptian government and other
actors on policies that should be adopted to avoid the adverse effect of the
agreement on people’s access to essential medicines.
The policy paper also aims at
raising public awareness on the different aspects of the TRIPS and its effects
on the right to health in light of the apparent lack of information provided by
the government on the issue, and its failure to involve civil society and the
public in planning for the phase following the TRIPS entrance into force.
