Health Action International is happy to reveal the new update of the TRIPS Flexibilities Navigator. This update provides a smoother and easier search for the use of TRIPS flexibilities in Europe, gathering data and information from sources including the Medicines Law & Policy Database and the European Patent Office.

The use of flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement play a vital role in improving access to patented medicines and other health technologies. The Navigator therefore serves as an instrument to learn more on how to use the flexibilities as well as a legitimate policy tool to help fulfil the fundamental human right to the highest attainable level of health.  

Last year, in order to assess the uptake and use of the Navigator, we held a collaborative workshop with diverse stakeholders including academics, researchers, advocates, and developers. It was encouraging to hear unanimous appreciation for the tool and particularly for the granularity of the data it holds. Participants agreed that this data is the feature that should be most showcased. They also expressed interest in a different way to search the information.

Thanks to our developers, our update now features a much more streamlined and efficient look, where users can search through countries and products to see where flexibilities have been used, and what national legal bases are available.

Other pages and resources from the previous version of navigator have been included, such as the glossary, frequently asked questions, and a repository of research associated with intellectual property and TRIPS flexibilities.

Thanks to this upgrade, we hope to continue promoting the tool and the knowledge contained within to a wide range of interested parties. Read our user guide for more information.

As always, the Navigator must remain a crowd-sourced, interactive and collaborative tool. If you have any comments of questions, feel free to contact Alex Lawrence (alex@haiweb.org) or Alice Beck (alice@haiweb.org).

Visit our Navigator here: www.flexibilitiesnavigator.org