The Balance Between Free Trade and Health Care: Challenges Faced by the World Trade Organization in the Context of Trade in Medicines

Abstract

The role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) essentially boils down to regulating trade, but in the face of growing cross-border health challenges, such as infectious diseases, we are witnessing an expansion of the WTO’s scope of influence into matters in other branches of law. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the WTO’s structural weaknesses in responding to global health crises. The paper addresses the issue of trade in medicines within the WTO, focusing on the legal framework currently in effect, its operation in practice, and the challenges arising out of the need to ensure global access to medicines. It primarily analyses the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), including the flexibilities, and the Doha Declaration, which aimed to reconcile the protection of intellectual property rights with the exercise of the right to health. It also assesses recent initiatives aimed at the reform of the WTO system in the context of cross-border threats. The article demonstrates that a more flexible approach to interpreting WTO rules is needed, taking into account the importance of public health. It also concludes with de lege ferenda proposals on the need to strengthen synergies between the international trade system and the exercise of the right to health. The article is of a scientific and research character. The issues presented have an international impact. The paper can be of cognitive value for both scientific and practical spheres.