India is the ‘pharmacy' of developing countries and her global contribution in the field of medicine is commendable.

The National IPR Policy framed by our Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley with the slogan ‘Creative India, Innovative India' has benefited our IP regimes to a great extent. In compliance with the TRIPS agreement of World Trade Organisation, it lays out the future road map of India.

This policy aims to push IPRs as a marketable financial asset, promotes innovation and entrepreneurship along with the protection of public interest. These legal rights confer an exclusive right to the creator to fully utilize his invention and protect it for a certain period of time. Due to the high stakes of the tech developers, the need to protect the knowledge and creations from unlawful use and ensuring the preservation of money, time and efforts of the investors is both necessary for the creator and public welfare.

However, questions arise with regard to blocking  of life-saving drugs to patients for National IP protection policy. But the reality defies the aforementioned statement completely as IPR policy has imparted to public health along with the protection of innovative inventions efficiently.  Because of the IP protection regimes, patented products are now extended to patients by companies and Government schemes free of cost or a fraction of the original price. Ayushman Bharat is one such recent programme implemented by the Government for the benefit of public health, especially families

below poverty lines. 

On 17^th May 2018, Thursday, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget 2018-19 which comprised the provision of accessibility and affordability of cheaper medicines, through reduction of the stent prices and ensuring free dialysis towards as a step towards improvement in the healthcare sector. Terming Ayushman Bharat to be the greatest National Healthcare scheme of India, Jaitley announces that 10crore poor and vulnerable families will be provided Rs. 5 lakh per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalization. .To ensure that nobody is left out, especially women, children and the elderly people, there will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme. The benefit cover will also include pre and post-hospitalisation expenses.

Hence, the emergence of various Government Schemes are rightly evident of the fact that the National IPR policy has benefited innovation and public concerns in a distinctive way. It is globally acceptable that India is the ‘pharmacy' of developing countries  i.e. it dispenses cheaper and quality vaccinations to the world, her global contribution in the field of medicine is commendable. Also, in the ongoing environment of medical innovation, India evinces its proven record of meeting the critical health-care needs of needy patients leveraging its improvised technology.

Content Credits:- Rusha Bhattacharya