Last month, at the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit held in Dakar, Senegal, our Managing Partner presented a paper titled – Balancing Patent Rights and Public Health: The Role of Compulsory Licensing in Improving Access to Essential Medicines in Nigeria. The discourse highlighted the persistent challenge of affordability in accessing pharmaceutical products across Africa, particularly among low-income populations. In Nigeria, this problem is compounded by the country’s heavy reliance on imported medicines and raw materials. Research reveals that 70% of all drugs consumed are imported resulting in high treatment costs.
To appreciate the implications of this, it is essential to understand what a patent represents. A patent functions as a social contract through which an inventor receives exclusive protection for a specified period, typically twenty years, in exchange for fully disclosing the details of the invention. While this system encourages innovation, it can also impede access to essential medicines when patent exclusivity prevents local manufacturing without the patent holder’s consent.
Although compulsory licensing exists as a legal mechanism under national laws and international agreements to address public health needs, its use remains extremely limited across Africa especially in Nigeria. Despite recurring challenges in accessing affordable medicines, local pharmaceutical companies rarely apply for compulsory licences. In Nigeria, notably, there has been no application for a compulsory licence for a pharmaceutical product in the last twenty years, even though the provision is clearly available.
The paper explores these issues and the potential of compulsory licensing to improve access to essential medicines without undermining innovation. Download the paper by clicking the link below.
