Negotiating Health

* Explores the intrinsic conflict between intellectual property rights and the distribution of essential medicines * Discusses the implications for the health of the world's poorest nations now that the full product patent requirements for medicines have come into force * The world's leading authorities on the subject write from the perspectives of both the 'developed' and the 'developing' world In developing countries, access to affordable medicines for the treatment of diseases such as AIDS and malaria remains a matter of life or death. In Africa, for instance, more than one million children die each year from malaria alone, a figure which could soon be far higher with the extension of patent rules for pharmaceuticals. Previously, access to essential medicines was made possible by the supply of much cheaper generics, manufactured largely by India; from this year, however, the availability of these drugs is threatened as new WTO rules take effect. Halting the spread of malaria and HIV/AIDS is one of the eight Millennium Goals adopted at the UN Millennium Summit, which makes this a timely and topical book. Informed analysis is provided by internationally renowned contributors who look at the post-2005 world and discuss how action may be taken to ensure access to medicines is not sacrificed to corporate attempts to protect business interests.