Morning Briefing

"A new UNAIDS/UNDP joint issues brief [.pdf] highlights the potential impacts of free trade agreements on public health," UNAIDS reports in a feature story on its website. "The brief concludes that 'to retain the benefits of [flexibilities in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)], countries at a minimum should avoid entering into free trade agreements that contain obligations that can impact on pharmaceutical price or availability,'" the article states. It adds that "the potential impact of a number of current or planned free trade agreement negotiations taking place across the world -- particularly affecting countries in the Asia and the Pacific region -- can hinder countries' rights to implement such flexibilities" (6/1).