There’s been a lot of buzz lately about various developing countries
ordering Compulsory Licenses. Actually, it’s not only developing countries that have granted compulsory licenses in the past. This new scorecard tracks the countries, the
products, timing of the ordered Licenses and provides updates as they
arise. There are currently 19 countries being tracked.
Compulsory Licenses, (under Article 31 of TRIPS)
have traditionally been ordered to enable access to medicines to people
in developing countries who would otherwise not be able to afford them.
The Licenses have typically been granted in respect of medicines to
treat diseases such HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. The scorecard also tracks ‘Paragraph 6’ mechanisms – explained further at the Scorecard.
You can comment on this post about the scorecard, or contribute to the scorecard itself.