TY - JOUR
T1 - The potential synergies between industrial and health policies for access to medicines: insights from the Brazilian policy of universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment
AU - Urias, E.
N1 - Funding Information:
I am grateful for support from the CAPES Foundation under the aegis of the Ministry of Education of Brazil (grant number 10201-29), and all authors gratefully acknowledge support under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme project MNEmerge (Grant Agreement No. 61288). I am extremely grateful for the useful comments made by the editor and the referees, which have contributed to a significant improvement of the paper. I remain solely responsible for any remaining errors.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2019/7/3
Y1 - 2019/7/3
N2 - The purpose of this study is to illustrate how industrial policy can support health policy through the construction of technological and innovation capabilities. This paper provides insights on this topic by examining the Brazilian ability to make patented antiretroviral (ARV) drugs universally accessible to people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. The Brazilian case study demonstrates the crucial role of industrial policy in making the use of compulsory licensing in price negotiations with pharmaceutical multinational corporations to improve the access to patented ARV drugs. The evidence presented in this paper supports that it is indeed possible to achieve synergies between industrial and health policy in order to improve the access to medicines and promote accumulation of technological capabilities in pharmaceuticals. Several policy instruments and initiatives, both horizontal and vertical, were implemented to support the industrial dimension of the successful Brazilian health strategy. These initiatives include direct support to capacity building, public procurement, and institutional changes. Furthermore, industrial policy initiatives can contribute to success of health programmes either immediately or with a time lag. Finally, the lessons learned from the Brazilian experience are re-specified and its relevance to other less developed countries, particularly those deprived of industrial capabilities, is discussed. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
AB - The purpose of this study is to illustrate how industrial policy can support health policy through the construction of technological and innovation capabilities. This paper provides insights on this topic by examining the Brazilian ability to make patented antiretroviral (ARV) drugs universally accessible to people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. The Brazilian case study demonstrates the crucial role of industrial policy in making the use of compulsory licensing in price negotiations with pharmaceutical multinational corporations to improve the access to patented ARV drugs. The evidence presented in this paper supports that it is indeed possible to achieve synergies between industrial and health policy in order to improve the access to medicines and promote accumulation of technological capabilities in pharmaceuticals. Several policy instruments and initiatives, both horizontal and vertical, were implemented to support the industrial dimension of the successful Brazilian health strategy. These initiatives include direct support to capacity building, public procurement, and institutional changes. Furthermore, industrial policy initiatives can contribute to success of health programmes either immediately or with a time lag. Finally, the lessons learned from the Brazilian experience are re-specified and its relevance to other less developed countries, particularly those deprived of industrial capabilities, is discussed. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
KW - Brazil
KW - compulsory licensing
KW - health policy
KW - industrial policy
KW - technological capabilities
U2 - 10.1080/2157930X.2019.1567964
DO - 10.1080/2157930X.2019.1567964
M3 - Article
SN - 2157-930X
VL - 9
SP - 245
EP - 260
JO - Innovation and Development
JF - Innovation and Development
IS - 2
ER -