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The politics of patents and drugs in Brazil and Mexico: the industrial bases of health policies

Shadlen, Kenneth C. ORCID: 0000-0003-4010-4835 (2009) The politics of patents and drugs in Brazil and Mexico: the industrial bases of health policies. Comparative Politics, 42 (1). pp. 41-58. ISSN 0010-4159

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Identification Number: 10.5129/001041509X12911362972791

Abstract

After introducing pharmaceutical patents in the 1990s, Brazil subsequently adjusted the patent system to ameliorate its effects on drug prices, while Mexico introduced measures that reinforce and intensify these effects. The different trajectories are due to the nature of the actors pushing for reform and the patterns of coalitional formation and political mobilization. In Brazil government demand for expensive, patented drugs made health-oriented patent reform a priority. The existence of an autonomous local pharmaceutical sector allowed the Ministry of Health to build a supportive coalition. In Mexico government demand made reforms less urgent, and transformations of the pharmaceutical sector allowed patent-holding firms to commandeer a reform project. The existence of indigenous pharmaceutical capacities can broaden the political coalitions underpinning health reforms.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://web.gc.cuny.edu/jcp/index.HTM
Additional Information: © 2009 The Author
Divisions: International Development
Subjects: J Political Science > JL Political institutions (America except United States)
R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Date Deposited: 10 Feb 2010 17:25
Last Modified: 11 Dec 2024 23:31
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/27051

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