An Integrated Health, Trade and IP Approach to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic constitutes an extraordinary global public health crisis. It has created a pressing need for intensified global cooperation. The pandemic has from its outset raised issues at the crossroads of public health policy, trade policy and the framework for and management of innovation, including those relating to intellectual property rights. The second edition of the joint WHO, WIPO and WTO publication “Promoting Access to Medical Technologies and Innovation: Intersections between public health, intellectual property and trade”, published in 2020, included a special insert mapping the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the integrated health, trade and IP policy framework set out in the study. This update revises the information contained in the last version launched in October 2021 in the light of more recent developments as of 17 May 2023.