Compulsory Licensing and Access to Medicine in Developing Countries

Abstract

According to the data compiled by the UN Millennium Development Goals Project, 40 million people are infected by the AIDS virus in developing countries, with 26.6 million on the African continent. About 93% of those infected with the AIDS virus cannot afford to buy the anti-retroviral medication which they need (1). The Joint Program of the United Nations on AIDS believed that unequal access to treatment at acceptable prices is one of the main reasons for the low levels of survival in poor nations.