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The relationship between intellectual property and the protection of public health has been a major issue of debate in several international forums, particularly at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The debate centres on whether the intellectual property system is providing enough incentives into research and development (R&D) of medicines for diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries; and allowing access to existing medicines. Countries have made important efforts towards gaining a clear understanding of the debate and seeking to find solutions to the problems identified. In the context of the WTO, key achievements to date have been the WTO Doha Declaration on the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in 20011 that reinforced the utilisation of TRIPS flexibilities to address public health needs, and a permanent Amendment to Article 31 of TRIPS in December 2005 to make it easier for poorer countries to access cheaper generic medicines.
Although the WTO and its TRIPS Agreement continue to remain the major focus in dealing with public health and intellectual property related issues, the WHO is increasingly playing its role as a forum for these discussions and one that is taking action to find solutions. In th is regard, recent breakthroughs that have also contributed to strengthening the role of the WHO are the work of the independent Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH) set up by the WHO and the adoption of a World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution towards the establishment of a global framework to implement the recommendations of the CIPIH. However, it is yet unclear to what extent these developments may in practice contribute to tackling intellectual-property related challenges.