Exploiting Patent Regulatory ‘Flexibilities’ to Promote Access to Antiretroviral Medicines in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has reached a crescendo in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA or Saharan region). This disease threatens to exterminate the human race in the Saharan region. The situation is further exacerbated by high prices of brand name antiretroviral medicines due to the prevailing international patent regime. And, attempts to promote the manufacture and import of generic versions of antiretroviral drugs are sometimes met with stiff resistance from pharmaceutical companies who own the patents. This article, therefore, seeks to examine the subject of patent regulation of antiretroviral drugs in the light of the threat posed by HIV/AIDS in SSA. It urges the exploitation of diverse patent regulatory mechanisms to promote access to antiretroviral drugs in the region worst hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Exploiting patent regulatory flexibilities implies the use of: negotiations, compulsory licensing mechanisms, public-private partnerships, collaborative initiatives among regional economic blocs, increased drug-pricing competition, and a rejection of TRIPS-Plus obligations, among others, to procure relatively cheaper versions of antiretroviral medicines for persons infected with the virus. This will enable policy makers in the Sub-Saharan region to respond more effectively to expand the capacities of HIV/AIDS-affected persons and make them more productive. It will further save the healthcare systems in SSA from imminent collapse.