Extract: 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 the management of innovation, including those relating to intellectual property (IP) rights. 

The text of the second edition of the WHO–WIPO–WTO Study on Access to Medical Technologies and Innovation had been completed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. This special insert maps myriad challenges posed by the outbreak in relation to the integrated health, trade and IP policy frameworks set out in the study. It provides cross-references to the relevant sections of the main text.