I often hear about the need for giving developing countries a break on intellectual property rights. As the argument goes – if they can’t afford the goods or services protected by patents, etc. they shouldn’t have to deal with paying high prices. Some go even further and suggest that IPR actually hurts development prospects by making key resources unavailable to the poor (such as medicines).
And its not just words – there are concrete actions. Take Brazil, for example — the country chose to ignore IPR and produce a generic version of an AIDS drug. And Brazil is not the only one, there are others.
Franklin Cudjoe, a civil society leader from Ghana, however, thinks that the poor only stand to lose from anti-patent crusades. To begin with he notes that:
For starters, the drugs needed in the developing world aren’t patent protected. A 2004 study published in the journal Health Affairs showed that less than 2 percent of the 319 prescription drugs on the WHO’s Model List of Essential Medicines are actually under patent.
The point of the article is that its not the problem of patents that the poor face – its the problem of infrastructure:
What patients in the Third World need aren’t patent-busting bureaucrats, but more roads, doctors, hospitals, nutritious food, and good sanitation. When roads are in disrepair, it can be particularly difficult to reach rural populations, where disease burden is highest. In places with no electricity, temperature-sensitive pills often go bad before anyone can benefit from them.
And another problem:
Poor patent enforcement also gives rise to potentially harmful copycats. The generic pharmaceuticals manufactured in the developing world often don’t comply with international safety regulations. Low-quality and counterfeit drugs are common. The WHO estimates that 10 percent of the world’s drugs are counterfeit. Patent-theft is making the problem worse.
For more on the true costs of counterfeiting see this webpage by the U.S. Chamber.
And if the government is not able to help, who comes to the rescue? Well, its the private sector again:
Refrigerated Coca-Cola vans have been shipping polio vaccines to the hinterlands of Cameroon, because most roads are unmotorable.
Take a look at Cudjoe’s piece. He is thinking about the same problems “anti-patent crusaders” do – which is helping the poor in developing countries. He is just thinking of different solutions that actually work.
Published Date: May 08, 2008