The Impact Trips and Free Trade Agreements Have on Access to Medicines: The Cases of Canada and Colombia

Consuelo Ahumada's article, Impact TRIPS and Free Trade Agreements have on Access to Medicines: The Cases of Canada and Colombia, discusses the consequences of American international trade strategies with regard to the pharmaceutical industry and national healthcare systems. Her article shows how successive rounds of international trade negotiations and bilateral free trade agreements have served to strengthen the intellectual property rights of multinational pharmaceutical companies. As Ahumada amply demonstrates, one of the outcomes of enhanced intellectual property regimes is that they have served to restrict access to medicines and have negatively affected the delivery of health care in Canada and Colombia.