Pledge to Africa Act

The Pledge to Africa Act (the Act) (long title: An Act to amend the Patent Act and the Food and Drugs Act (The Jean Chrétien Pledge to Africa) is an Act of the Parliament of Canada. It was Bill C-9 of the third session of the 37th Canadian Parliament. The legislation amends the Patent Act and the Food and Drugs Act to implement Canada's Access to Medicines Regime. It represented the first implementation of the TRIPS flexibilities declared in the August 30, 2003, General Council decision. Enacted in May 2004, it allows Canada to enact compulsory licenses to export essential medicines to countries without the capacity to manufacture their own. Other countries that have since enacted similar legislation include Norway and India. Purpose The purpose of the Act is to improve access to drugs for developing countries that lack the resources to manufacture the drugs and cannot afford to buy them at the usual market cost. The drugs that fight these diseases are expensive to create and manufacture and thus are usually unaffordable for those who need them the most. The Pledge to Africa Act allows for the patents on these drugs to be overridden so that manufacturers can produce generic versions of the drug to sell in underdeveloped countries.