 |
Gauging the Power of Global Civil Society: Intellectual property and public health
| |
| | Unformatted Document Text:
The NGO network presented a normative frame and proposed policy solutions that the business network opposed. In the end, with its successful strategies of mobilizing a transnational coalition, framing policy problems, disseminating information, grafting its agenda as a solution to policy problems, and exploiting political opportunities… the NGO network has clearly won some substantive victories and brought about normative change in the IPR debate.
Since the Doha Declaration, the United States has publicly proclaimed its restraint
in pushing patent protection for pharmaceuticals in its bilateral and regional free trade
agreements (FTA). On its web site, the USTR stresses that, “The FTAs we have negotiated similarly contain the flexibility needed in order to address public health
crises.”
72
FTAs with Chile, Morocco, and Bahrain do not contain any restrictions on
compulsory licensing. Typical of these arrangements is the Central American Free Trade
Agreement, which includes an understanding specifying that CAFTA’s intellectual property provisions “do not affect a Party’s ability to take necessary measures to protect
public health by promoting access to medicines for all, in particular concerning cases such as HIV/AIDS.”
73
The Doha Declaration is also explicitly mentioned in the
understanding.
The effect of these shifts in policy on the cost of AIDS drugs was significant.
According to Médecins Sans Frontières, the price of most first-line ARVs per patient-year fell from $10,000 in 2000 to $150 in 2005.
74
From the GCS perspective, this is a
case where actors that possess little in the way of conventional material capabilities were able to alter the preferences of great power actors. GCS activists accomplished this task
despite the implacable opposition of multinational corporations with enormous specific assets invested in the status quo ante.
Reinterpreting the shift on intellectual property
72
Office of the USTR, “Fact Sheet on Access to Medicines,” 9 July 2004. Accessed at
http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Fact_Sheets/2004/Fact_Sheet_on_Access_to_Medicines.html
, 9
August 2005.
73
Office of the USTR, “Understanding Regarding Certain Public Health Measures,” 5 August 2004.
Accessed at
http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/CAFTA/CAFTA-
DR_Final_Texts/asset_upload_file697_3975.pdf
, 9 August 2005.
74
http://www.accessmed-msf.org/prod/publications.asp?scntid=28620052030274&contenttype=PARA&
,
accessed 9 August 2005.
19
|
| | Authors: Drezner, Daniel. |
|
| |
|
|
The NGO network presented a normative frame and proposed policy
solutions that the business network opposed. In the end, with its
successful strategies of mobilizing a transnational coalition, framing
policy problems, disseminating information, grafting its agenda as a
solution to policy problems, and exploiting political opportunities… the
NGO network has clearly won some substantive victories and brought
about normative change in the IPR debate.
Since the Doha Declaration, the United States has publicly proclaimed its restraint
in pushing patent protection for pharmaceuticals in its bilateral and regional free trade
agreements (FTA). On its web site, the USTR stresses that, “The FTAs we have
negotiated similarly contain the flexibility needed in order to address public health
crises.”
FTAs with Chile, Morocco, and Bahrain do not contain any restrictions on
compulsory licensing. Typical of these arrangements is the Central American Free Trade
Agreement, which includes an understanding specifying that CAFTA’s intellectual
property provisions “do not affect a Party’s ability to take necessary measures to protect
public health by promoting access to medicines for all, in particular concerning cases
such as HIV/AIDS.”
The Doha Declaration is also explicitly mentioned in the
understanding.
The effect of these shifts in policy on the cost of AIDS drugs was significant.
According to Médecins Sans Frontières, the price of most first-line ARVs per patient-
year fell from $10,000 in 2000 to $150 in 2005.
From the GCS perspective, this is a
case where actors that possess little in the way of conventional material capabilities were
able to alter the preferences of great power actors. GCS activists accomplished this task
despite the implacable opposition of multinational corporations with enormous specific
assets invested in the status quo ante.
Reinterpreting the shift on intellectual property
72
Office of the USTR, “Fact Sheet on Access to Medicines,” 9 July 2004. Accessed at
August 2005.
73
Office of the USTR, “Understanding Regarding Certain Public Health Measures,” 5 August 2004.
, 9 August 2005.
74
accessed 9 August 2005.
19
|
|
 Convention | | All Academic Convention makes running your annual conference simple and cost effective. It is your online solution for abstract management, peer review, and scheduling for your annual meeting or convention. | | Submission - Custom fields, multiple submission types, tracks, audio visual, multiple upload formats, automatic conversion to pdf. | | Review - Peer Review, Bulk reviewer assignment, bulk emails, ranking, z-score statistics, and multiple worksheets! | | Reports - Many standard and custom reports generated while you wait. Print programs with participant indexes, event grids, and more! | | Scheduling - Flexible and convenient grid scheduling within rooms and buildings. Conflict checking and advanced filtering. | | Communication - Bulk email tools to help your administrators send reminders and responses. Use form letters, a message center, and much more! | | Management - Search tools, duplicate people management, editing tools, submission transfers, many tools to manage a variety of conference management headaches! | | Click here for more information. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
