Making Access to Pharmaceuticals a Reality: Legal Options under TRIPS and the Case of Brazil

Abstract

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has made the problem of access to pharmaceuticals in developing countries a subject of intense public debate. This Essay contends that tensions between intellectual property rights and human rights are largely resolvable through the full utilization of exceptions under new international trade and intellectual property rules. Rather than undermining these regimes, the approach laid out in this Essay was anticipated by the international forum that established the World Trade Organization and issued the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Agreement (TRIPS). Brazil's experience illustrates possible strategies, relevant to developing countries, which can be used to strike a balance between respect for public health and human rights and protection of intellectual property rights.