OPIC – A patently wrong regime
Even an unprecedented pandemic can do little, it appears, to upset the existing global regime governing monopoly rights over the production and distribution of lifesaving drugs. If anything, since the onset of COVID19, we’ve only seen a reaffirmation of intellectual property rules that have served as a lethal barrier to the right to access healthcare over the last few decades. The neoliberal order, under which these laws exist, is so intractable today that a matter as seemingly simple as a request for a waiver on patent protections is seen as a claim unworthy of exception. On October 2 last year, India and South Africa submitted a joint petition to the World Trade Organization (WTO), requesting a temporary suspension of rules under the 1995 Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). A waiver was sought to the extent that the protections offered by TRIPS impinged on the containment and treatment of COVID19. As we now know, quick and efficient vaccination is the surest route to achieving global herd immunity against the virus. Should the appeal for a waiver be allowed, countries will be in a position, among other things, to facilitate a free exchange of know-how and technology surrounding the production of vaccines. The request for a waiver has, since, found support from more than 100 nations. But a small group of states — the U.S., the European Union, the U.K., and Canada among them — continues to block the move. Their reluctance comes despite these countries having already secured the majority of available vaccines, with the stocks that they hold far exceeding the amounts necessary to inoculate the whole of their populations. Their decision is all the more galling when one considers the fact that for the rest of the world mass immunisation is a distant dream. Reports suggest that for most poor countries it would take until at least 2024 before widespread vaccination is achieved. A patent is conferral by the state of an exclusive right to make, use and sell an inventive product or process. Patent laws are usually justified on three distinct grounds: on the idea that people have something of a natural and moral right to claim control over their inventions; on the utilitarian premise that exclusive licenses promote invention and therefore benefit society as a whole; and on the belief that individuals must be allowed to benefit from the fruits of their labour and merit, that when a person toils to produce an object, the toil and the object become inseparable. Each of these justifications has long been a matter of contest, especially in the application of claims of monopoly over pharmaceutical drugs and technologies.
The Hindu Editorial Words with meanings, synonyms, and antonyms
Reaffirmation (noun) – a reassertion or confirmation of a fact or belief
Synonyms – confirmation, reiteration, acknowledgement, verification
Antonyms – arguing, challenge, disapproval, hinder
Lethal (adjective) – that can cause death or great damage
Synonyms – deadly, fatal, toxic, poisonous, pernicious
Antonyms – harmless, beneficial, restorative, salubrious
Waiver (noun) – a situation in which somebody gives up a legal claim or right
Synonyms – renunciation, abandonment, relinquishment, abdication
Antonyms – accept, claim, acquiesce, confirmation, dexter
Impinged (verb) – advance beyond the usual limit
Synonyms – encroach, entrench, invade, affect, violate
Antonyms – dodge, avoid, extol, enhancement, reflect
Reluctance (noun) – a certain degree of unwillingness
Synonyms – hesitation, disinclination, repugnance, distaste, disrelish
Antonyms – enthusiasm, alacrity, inclination, appetite, certainty
Inoculate (verb) – to protect a person or animal from disease by giving him/her/it a mild form of the disease with a needle which is put under the skin
Synonyms – immunize, vaccinate, infuse, indoctrinate, impregnate
Antonyms – endanger, imperil, jeopardize, threaten
Galling (verb) – to make somebody feel upset and angry
Synonyms – irritating, vexatious, irksome, bothersome, teasing
Antonyms – comforting, sedative, narcotic, gratifying
Conferral (noun) – the act of conferring honor or presenting a gift
Synonyms – bestowal, conferment, assignment, assigning
Antonyms – beg, denial, deprivation, ignore, swindle
Utilitarian (adjective) – designed and intended to be practical and useful rather than attractive
Synonyms – functional, pragmatic, realistic, expedient, effective
Antonyms – unnecessary, impractical, ineffective, posh