INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, HEALTH, REGIONALISM AND DEVELOPMENT: A THIRD WORLD’S PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals were adopted inSeptember 2015 as a post 2015 development agenda. Goal 9 of the SDGs isto `build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainableindustrialization and foster innovation'. Much has been written on theconnection between intellectual property and development. With respectto developing countries, arguments have been canvassed both for andagainst intellectual property in the pursuit of their development goals.The adoption of the TRIPS Agreement in 1994 heralded a new era of globalintellectual property governance aimed at a substantial harmonisation ofintellectual property protection standards across the globe. Thiscontinues to raise continuing concerns in relation to the extent towhich IP could foster development and industrialisation in developingcountries and whether the global IP regime is designed in a way thatsufficiently protects the interest of the developing and least developednations. The development rhetoric is assuming an increasing significancein Africa given the continent's varying development challenges. Thiscalls for some reflection on the interface between IP protection and thepursuit of sustainable human and economic development. The paperexamines the link between intellectual property and health and how itrelates to sustainable development in the African context.