Dixya Poudel

It is said that history is written by the winners. Certainly, the world history is intertwined with records of the victorious. Even in science, technology and innovation, the winners take home the gold. In 1859 AD, Charles Darwin published, On the Origin of Species, which put forward the theory of evolution and eventually took the world by storm. History acknowledges and reveres Darwin but he wasn't the only one to discover the theory of evolution. Alfred Russel Wallace too had discovered the theory of evolution but he is little credited for his work. When Wallace learned that Darwin too had similar ideas of evolution, he wrote Darwin a letter in 1858 in which he outlined his own theories concerning evolution.
Consequently, Darwin and Wallace jointly published the theory of evolution in 1858. However, when Darwin published On the Origin of Species the following year, it garnered more attention, fascination and imagination of the public. Since then, the theory of evolution gained strides and it is Darwin who is largely credited for the theory, thanks to his very popular book. As history goes, Darwin was clearly the winner.
Peter Raby, a biographer of Alfred Wallace, has written that, "Never has an intriguing theory been built on slenderer evidence. As for the human factor, there is nothing in Darwin's life to suggest that he was capable of such massive intellectual dishonesty, even if he was not especially generous in acknowledging his sources and debts." It sums up the importance of honouring and acknowledging original sources, cites and research.
In academic circles, it is mandatory to cite sources for research papers. Plagiarism is considered a fraud which the educational institutes don't abide by. Students are taught to respect and credit the original sources. Same applies for intellectual properties. Intellectual property is a group of property that encompasses the creations and intangible works of human intellect. It includes patents, copyrights, trade secrets and trademarks.
As the world is currently ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, there have been rows over vaccine patent waivers. Vaccine patents are an integral part of intellectual properties that are owned by pharmaceutical giants. Most of the developed nations have been successfully vaccinating their citizens and, as a result, their infection rates and fatalities are declining in a steady rate. However, the poor and developing nations are seeing an alarming surge in infections and fatalities.
Especially India has had a spike in virus cases. As a strategy to curb the pandemic, India and South Africa requested vaccine patent waiver to ensure vaccine availability. It resulted in differing opinions. While the United States showed solidarity and support towards the waiver, the pharmaceutical companies voiced alarms.
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations stated that vaccine patent waiver is, "likely to lead to disruption, while distracting from addressing the real challenges in scaling up production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally, namely elimination of trade barriers, addressing bottlenecks in supply chains and scarcity of raw materials and ingredients in the supply chain, and a willingness by rich countries to start sharing doses with poor countries."
The rights of an intellectual property must be acknowledged. However, at this critical juncture, when it comes to vaccine patent waivers, the greater good of humanity should win over corporate greed.