Canada's Access to Medicines Regime
- Canada's Access to Medicines Regime
Canada's Access to Medicines Regime, previously called the Jean Chrétien Pledge to Africa Act, is a piece of Canadian legislation to amend Canada's Patent Act in order to reflect the changes in intellectual property rules made by the August 30th decision at the World Trade Organization in 2003, specifically those allowing countries with generic pharmaceutical-manufacturing capacity to produce products for developing countries without such capacity, for the purposes of serving public health. Canada was the first country to amend its laws to correspond to the changes, though now the European Union and Norway have begun their own programs.
Though the law has been in force since 2005, by mid-2006 it had yet to be used for its stated purpose: to send cheap drugs overseas. Health Minister Tony Clement in the Conservative government of Stephen Harper admitted this problem at the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto, and promised an expedited investigation into making the program more effective. The legislation stipulated a review must be conducted two years after it gained royal assent, though this deadline passed in May 2007 and as of August 2007 no such report has been tabled.
Critics have complained that the law is more limited than it needs to be to comply with the TRIPS Agreement, which sets rules intellectual property at the WTO. Specifically, it contains a schedule of eligible drugs that can be manufactured using the bill, when no such limited list is required.
In July 2007, it was announced that Rwanda would purchase fixed-dose combination drugs manufactured by Apotex to treat HIV patients. This contract was facilitated by Medecins sans frontieres, and represents the first attempt to utilize the legislation.
External links
* [http://camr-rcam.hc-sc.gc.ca/index_e.html Official page at Health Canada]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/realitycheck/20060804sheppard.html Generic AIDS drugs: What happened to Canada's pledge to Africa? from CBC News]
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Diffusion of technology in Canada — This article outlines the history of the diffusion or spread of technology in Canada. Technologies chosen for treatment here include, in rough order, transportation, communication, energy, materials, industry, public works, public services… … Wikipedia
Technological and industrial history of Canada — The technological and industrial history of Canada encompasses the country s development in the areas of transportation, communication, energy, materials, public works, public services (health care), domestic/consumer and defense technologies.… … Wikipedia
Tony Clement — Infobox CanadianMP honorific prefix = The Honourable name = Anthony Peter Clement honorific suffix = PC, MP riding = Parry Sound Muskoka parliament = Canadian term start = 2006 federal election term end = predecessor = Andy Mitchell successor =… … Wikipedia
Economic Affairs — ▪ 2006 Introduction In 2005 rising U.S. deficits, tight monetary policies, and higher oil prices triggered by hurricane damage in the Gulf of Mexico were moderating influences on the world economy and on U.S. stock markets, but some other… … Universalium
Traditional knowledge — Intellectual property law Primary rights Copyright · authors rights … Wikipedia
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights — TRIPS redirects here. For the new microprocessor design, see TRIPS architecture. For the German racing driver, see Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international… … Wikipedia
Doha Declaration — The November 2001 Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health was adopted by the WTO Ministerial Conference of 2001 in Doha on November 14, 2001. It reaffirmed flexibility of TRIPS member states in circumventing patent rights for… … Wikipedia
World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2001 — Location of Doha … Wikipedia
Social Protection — ▪ 2006 Introduction With medical costs skyrocketing and government programs scaled back, citizens bore more responsibility for their health care costs; irregular migration, human trafficking, and migrant smuggling posed challenges for… … Universalium
education — /ej oo kay sheuhn/, n. 1. the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life. 2. the act or process of… … Universalium
