Critical Study of Legal Rights of People in Developing Nations like India Regarding Access to Healthcare and Medicine in the Light of TRIPS Regime

Abstract

Right to Health and Healthcare is very essential aspect of right to life. There have been so many noted references with respect to the right to health and healthcare in the philosophical literature. Therefore, over a period of time such expression has assumed an importance in the context of International Human Rights. On top of it, the phrase “Right to Health and Healthcare” does seem to presume that State must guarantee this right to every person. As far as the developing nations are concerned, the issue of healthcare has still been there. Countries like India where most of the people still do live below poverty line do not have access to such world class healthcare including access to affordable medicines. There has been found to be a big social economic void which makes it difficult for the needy to have access to healthcare and better medical facilities. We have also seen remarkable progress in the medical science and the same must be enjoyed by everyone but because of poverty, lack of facilities, information, illiteracy such achievements cannot be enjoyed by the vulnerable section of the society. There has also been a big lack in the approach from the side of the governments of the developing world to remove asymmetries in between medical advancements on one hand and access to such advancements at affordable cost to the vulnerable section of people on the other. Ever increasing cost with respect to healthcare and essential medicines and ever ascending use of very costly health care goods and services do provide for the reason for the change to be done to the access to healthcare and medicines keeping in view their human rights aspect intact. It has also been seen in the last few years that the people of the developing nations have not been able to fight with the life-threatening ailments for want of their inability to have access to affordable healthcare system including their access to essential medicines. After TRIPS was introduced, developing countries did bring out the harmful effects of TRIPS Regime, it may have on the protection pertaining to public health and healthcare including access to indispensable medicines. Such anomalies from the perspective of developing states ensuring ABSTRACT ii right to health to all and pharmaceutical industry ensuring availability to essential medicine to all keeping in view the TRIPS Regime have been addressed in this doctrinal thesis. Critical analyze has been done to the developments in this regard post Doha Declaration thereby assessing the situation with respect to accessibility of indispensable medicines at affordable cost to people belonging to the third world. TRIPS along with para six (6) of DOHA Declaration has been looked into. The standpoint from the side of developed world w.r.t the fulfilment of the obligations envisaged under TRIPS and Doha Declaration in the light of progressive universal pharmaceutical patent practices has been brought out during the inquiry. The positioning of the third world post DOHA Declarations as to how they are going to be benefited under such provisions with respect to compulsory licensing has been spelt out in detail. Hence, the Critical Study of Legal Rights of people in developing nations like India regarding access to healthcare and essential medicine in the light of TRIPS regime has been done in detail by the researcher.