Doha Declaration

Doha Declaration, was issued in November 2001, which indicated that TRIPs should not prevent states from dealing with public health crises.

- Reaffrimed flexibility of TRIPS member states in circumventing patent rights for better access to essential medicines

- Essential medicine is “Drugs that satisfy the health care needs of the majority of the population; therefore should be available at all times in adequate amounts & in appropriate dosage forms @ a price the community can afford”

- It is agreed that Each WTO member has right to deremine what constitutes a national emergency or extreme urgency, including public health crisis such as HIV/AIDS, tb, malaria and other epidemics.

- We recognize that WTO Members with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector could face difficulties in making effective use of compulsory licensing under the TRIPS Agreement. We instruct the Council for TRIPS to find an expeditious solution to this problem and to report to the General Council before the end of 2002

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