Global Lessons from the AIDS Pandemic

We began to research for this book in 2000, with the idea that we might contribute to the search for solutions to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic by c- bining perspectives from different disciplines. Much has happened in the interv- ing years. First, the severity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa - and the threat it posed for many others regions of the world - led to a movement among several countries to correct the imbalance between producers and users of ph- maceutical products. This effort produced a clarification of the right of gove- ments to produce generic medicine under compulsory licenses and an amendment of the World Trade Organization's TRIPS Agreement to allow exports of generic medicines from one WTO Member to another. In 2007, the amended rules were put into practice, with Canada authorizing the export of generic antiretroviral drugs to Rwanda. However, at the same time, global patent laws have been undermined due to regulatory capture, most notably in free trade agreements and through political pressure on countries like Thailand to not to exercise their right to issue compulsory licenses for pharmaceutical products. Second, the amount of money available for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS has increased dramatically, with the establishment of the World Bank Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program for Africa (MAP), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), among other funding initiatives.

This book covers the global HIV/AIDS pandemic from a multidisciplinary perspective, analyzing its economic impact, the reasons behind the political response, international laws relating to public health and methods for financing global and national responses.

Unprecedented multidisciplinary scope: economic, legal, financial and business aspects of HIV/AIDS

to the Economic, Financial, Political and Legal Implications of Global Pandemics.- HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment Strategies in Developed and Developing Countries.- Insurance, Mortality, Treatment Costs and the Business Impact of HIV/AIDS in Developed and Developing Countries.- The Economics of HIV/AIDS.- The Political Economy of Patents and Global Health Threats.- Global Diseases, Global Patents and Developing Countries in WTO Law.- Bilateral and Multilateral Financing of HIV/AIDS Programs: The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Global Fund, Bilateral Donors and the Private Sector.- The Successes and Failures of Global Health Organizations: The World Health Organization, UNAIDS, Médicins sans Frontières and PEPFAR.- The Way Forward: Prevention, Treatment and Human Rights.