Access to Essential Medicines in India: The role of innovations, patents, and intellectual property rights

Abstract

The role of essential medicines is to smoothen life and overall improvement of health in society. However, increased demand for medications and the role of patent rights are forcing a lack of access to essential medicines. Innovations in crucial times helped solve many population issues. Despite the availability of medication technology, there is a shortage or non-availability of essential medicines in various parts of the world. This is indirectly attributed to the existing patent laws and intellectual property rights. This paper argues in favour of and against the pharmaceutical sector’s patent laws in the context of access to medicines. Further, access to medicine is discussed in the context of the non-availability of medications among the vulnerable population in India and the world. The Indian setup helps in acquiring world technologies in various business negotiations. There is also a need for support in terms of resources and ecosystems in India for further development. Given that multi-national companies are interested in the Indian market, many things can be done quickly. However, the gain in the patent rights may not help solve the issues of access to essential medicines. Public financing for research can be much more useful for access to medicine. Overall, patent rights must not be a hurdle for addressing public health issues in the process of increasing access to medicines.