Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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GMHC Treat Issues. 1999 Mar;13(3):1-2. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE AIDS/20700063
Kasper T
Abstract: Sub-Saharan Africa has been seriously affected by the AIDS epidemic, with infection rates exceeding 30 percent in some areas. Unfortunately, most of the drugs used for treatment in the United States are not available in other countries because of high costs. The high costs can be attributed to the pharmaceutical companies' patents, which are retained for 20 years. The drugs could be manufactured in other countries at a fraction of the cost if a provision that allowed for it were to be included in the Trade-Related Aspects of the Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, part of the World Trade Organization. This provision would give governments the right to circumvent patents in national emergencies, which is called compulsory licensing. Because so few expensive drugs are sold in poor countries, compulsory licensing would not lead to significant profit losses for drug companies.
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