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Addressing Access To Medicine: The Influence Of Competing Patent Perspectives, Cynthia M. Ho

Cynthia M Ho

Promoting access to affordable medicine for poor countries is considered important by a wide range of actors, including not only rich and poor countries, but also public health advocates, patent owners, and scholars. However, promoting access has been elusive. Public health advocates argue that access to medicine is increasingly difficult due to changes in domestic and international laws that limit access to unpatented and low-cost generic drugs by expanding the scope of patent rights. Patent owners and some countries deny these claims while simultaneously advocating for more expansive patent rights as necessary to promote innovation and development. This article addresses …