Access to essential medicines in East Africa: A review of East Africa community and its member states approach to WTO-TRIPS public health flexibilities

When the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) was annexed to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1994, it set minimum standards for intellectual property (IP) protection, including protection of patent rights, that must be observed and enforced by all WTO Member States. On the one hand, stringent Intellectual Property protection as seen innovation in the field of science where medical innovation hasled to the creation of live saving vaccines which have reduced prevalence of diseases, ranging from polio to the human Papillomavirus, and invention of antiretroviral medicines which have greatly improved the lives of people living with the Huma Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). On the other hand, the fulfilment of the obligations under TRIPS has generated a lot of controversy especially as they have been seen as the cause of reduced access to essential medicines in developing countries.Magister Legum - LLM (Mercantile and Labour Law