Global Health Law and Governance

Thanks to technological advancements, new medicines are developed at high speed. Yet many developing countries lack the resources to purchase such medicines. While intellectual property rights encourage innovation (and are protected under the TRIPS Agreement and many other Free Trade Agreements with intellectual property chapters), they also risk hindering speedy and equitable access to medicines. Other challenges to fair and equitable access to medicines include insufficient development and production capacity in developing countries, as well as limitations on technology transfer. The major disparities between rich and developing countries in their access to COVID-19 vaccines has once again underscored the urgent need to develop a global legal infrastructure that will ensure fair and equitable access to medicines for all people around the globe.