PATENT SYSTEM AND HEALTHCARE
From Tech Central Stations's Andres Mejia-Vergnaud

"If patents did not exist, half of you would be dead today."

Good and informative article. Check it out:

The Invisible Healing Hand

By Andres Mejia-Vergnaud
March 12, 2004

The rise and growth of popular sentiments against globalization in the developed world is one of the most interesting features of our times. In spite of the evidence that shows how open markets and liberal democracy help the poor, thousands of rich-country intellectuals and activists have engaged in intensive high-impact campaigns against these institutions. Lacking evidence to support their sometimes exotic claims, activists have resorted to emotional strategies aimed at "convincing" people in their hearts that globalization is wrong. One of the targets of these campaigns has been the Intellectual Property (IP) system, especially when applied to medicines and health-care technologies.

Activists have blamed multinational corporations and the patent system for the health-care problems of the third world. However, in spite of the high-impact that this strategy is having on public opinion, the truth is that a closer examination of the issue will easily prove the activists wrong. In first place, we would discover how the problem of inadequate health care in the third world is a consequence of a complex web of political and social problems, none of them related to the patent system. Secondly, we would come to a certainly fascinating discovery: it is precisely in the case for pharmaceutical patents where the basic principles of political economy can be seen in their full logic. (full article)