Representative image of Covid vaccine (from here)
About the Event
The COVID-19 pandemic has once again placed public health in the spotlight. Governments across the globe are implementing mechanisms to curb the spread of the virus. Battling a novel virus has also put immense pressure on scientists and researchers to find a vaccine as well as raised concerns on resource-allocation as well as disease management. International institutions such the United Nations, WHO, WIPO as well as other supra-national entities are stressing on interdisciplinary synergies and collaborations in these difficult times to solve these numerous issues of global concern and relevance.
The pandemic has put into perspective the lack of access to effective healthcare that many people across the globe have to face. The right to life and healthcare being one of the most fundamental of human rights naturally intertwines the two fields in this discussion. In the process of developing a vaccine, it becomes imperative that Intellectual Property Laws must be applied in order to expedite the access and availability of prospective vaccines and must not be an obstacle towards the same. Thus, with multiple institutions engaged in tackling the pandemic, the analysis of three spheres of law has become an integral part of the process, especially in the matter of vaccines as well as immunization process – Health, Human Rights and Intellectual Property Rights. This event is an effort to provide a platform for discussions and deliberations that are to bring new insights and understanding towards the various dimensions involved in the matter of vaccines, their impact on public health, the responses and duties of States, people and other stakeholders, an evaluation of the healthcare sector frameworks, mechanisms of clinical trials and their limitations, the scope of intellectual property rights in such context as well as to throw light on the changes that are to be brought, in light of our shared experiences.
Centre for Human Rights (CHR)
The Centre for Human Rights was established to stimulate discussions on the concept of human rights and how the law can be used in the service of human rights. Since independence, India has made significant efforts to strengthen the constitutional, legal and institutional framework to protect and promote human rights. This work has been supported by an active and sensitive judiciary, which has safeguarded and strengthened existing civil and political rights as well as meaningfully expanded the notion of rights to include basic economic and social entitlements. However, human rights violations continue to be reported demonstrating the shortfalls in the existing system. This scenario illustrates the need for continuous efforts to develop a culture of human rights accompanied by legal initiatives upholding human rights. The Centre therefore works to bridge the knowledge in legal, social and cultural realms that impede the achievement of higher human rights compliance.
Centre for Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR)
The Centre for Intellectual Property Rights has, since its inception, been at the forefront of promoting research and education in the field of IPR. The Centre fosters R&D activities that blend with its central mission of intellectual pursuit as well as link related interdisciplinary involvement to develop an intellectual law-database which would benefit the nation at large. The two primary goals of the Centre are to enhance research and expertise pro-actively in novel and emerging fields of intellectual property law, as well as become a source of information and expertise on the subject. Through its flagship journal, NUALS Intellectual Property Law Review as well as various other activities, it seeks to enrich scholarship in the domain of intellectual property rights.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Research in Ethics and Protocols (ICREP)
The Prof. N R Madhava Menon Interdisciplinary Centre for Research Ethics and Protocols, being an Inter University Centre of Excellence, tries to seek integrity in academic scientific pursuits by giving insights to the teaching, student and research community about the ethical rules and norms existing in the realm of scientific research, thereby enhance the quality of scientific studies. The centre is an independent and autonomous research centre on Bio-ethics and exhibits inter university character. Objectives of the centre include drawing up of Code of Conduct of Research for different disciplines and interdisciplinary studies; laying down general and specific standards necessary for different types of scientific experimentations, storage of specimens, data, etc.; providing technical advice to institutions of research especially those engaged in industrial and biotechnological research; laying down different standards of law for scientific and non – scientific research; framing the laws necessary for experimental labs to address safety concerns, among other things.