What Oxfam is Doing
Oxfam is working with other groups to draw attention to an aspect of international trade agreements that has life-or-death consequences for millions of people around the world: the extent to which poor people will be granted access to the patented medicines they desperately need but cannot afford.
Oxfam has conducted research into how advanced countries promote intellectual property provisions in trade agreements and how pharmaceutical companies lobby to influence those agreements, and also works with groups in developing countries that are interested in safeguarding public health by reining in pharmaceutical companies’ ability to suppress all competition from generic manufacturers.
More specifically, Oxfam promotes:
- The adoption of patent rules that create a proper balance between promoting innovation and protecting public health so poor countries can afford basic medicine.
- Ensuring that developing countries can enforce public health safeguards under the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), thus giving poor countries a stronger voice.
- Ensuring that pharmaceutical companies do not use various tactics to prevent developing countries from promoting the use of safeguards and other mechanisms to ensure access to affordable medicines.