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A Matter of Life and Death: The role of patents in access to essential medicines

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MSF briefing document for the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, November 9-13, 2001.

A Matter of Life and Death: The role of patents in access to essential medicines pdf — 638.05 KB Download

From Nov 9-13, MSF is attending the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar. The organisation is continuing its campaign to improve access to essential medicines - this time through the intellectual property rights of patents. International trade rules currently treat essential medicines like Barbie dolls. Yet these patents are a matter of life and death for millions of people.

The briefing document prepared by the MSF Access to Essential Medicines Campaign provides a comprehensive view of the MSF position and the difficulties faced internationally by developing countries to provide essential medicines to their population due to international patent protection.