Medicines play a critical role in global health. This is made possible by strong intellectual property protection. With an EU that invests in intellectual property rights, innovation and medical development, we create our common sustainable future, writes Lif’s expert Karolina Rondahl on World Intellectual Property Day.
Today is World Intellectual Property Day – a day to recognize and celebrate intellectual property rights and their importance to the world’s development and the creation of innovations. This year’s theme is sustainability and the ability to jointly build our future through innovation and creativity.
Medicines are part of sustainable development
Good health and well-being are an obvious part of sustainability. It is one of the UN’s 17 global goals for sustainable development. For the pharmaceutical industry, it is the goal where we can contribute the most. There are many examples of how medical innovations have advanced health globally, such as the development of treatments for peptic ulcers that allow treatment without surgery. This innovation reduced the risk of complications and freed up resources in healthcare. Other examples are how treatments for diabetes and asthma have improved the quality of life for those affected and helped them live as normal a life as possible despite chronic illness.
Vaccines have also played a big role. Thanks to them, for example, we have succeeded in eradicating diseases such as smallpox and largely eradicated polio. Hopefully, the HPV vaccinations, which have been part of the general childhood vaccination program in Sweden since 2010, will also eradicate cervical cancer.
At the moment, intensive research is underway into diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and ALS to name a few. In addition, the development of personalized medicine and advanced therapies has come a long way, and a medical revolution is just around the corner.
Intellectual property rights contribute to global health
It is clear that medicines play a crucial role in the promotion of sustainable health. This is possible thanks to robust intellectual property protection. Without it, the medical innovations that have made such a difference to public health would not have become finished products. Therefore, it feels extra nice to be able to draw attention today to the results from the intellectual property law system that has contributed, and continues to contribute, to sustainable health around the world.
The EU must protect the intellectual property law system and medical innovation
The decision-makers in Sweden and the EU must ensure that we have a stable and strong system that can continue to promote the development of new medicines and treatments for patients so that we can reach the goal of good health for all. This is especially critical right now when the majority of reviews within the EU are underway, which risk deteriorating and driving research away from the EU. Therefore, it is important that Sweden takes an active position and safeguards the conditions that must be in place for new treatments and medicines to reach the market and be able to promote good health.
Through an EU that invests in intellectual property rights, innovation and medical development, we create our common sustainable future.
Without strong intellectual property rights, no medical innovation
People’s ability to live as healthy a life as possible presupposes access to effective medicines and treatments. The pharmaceutical sector is one of the most research-intensive industries and its innovation-heavy operations are an important component in the work to meet society’s health challenges and promote good health.
Successfully developing new treatments is resource- and time-consuming. The work is fraught with great risks and uncertainties. The few drug candidates that make it all the way from basic research to finished product are the result of collaboration and investment, and for that to be possible a functioning intellectual property law system is required – that’s what makes the innovation wheel spin.
Tags: Intellectual property rights basis health sustainable development
