Right to life should prevail over rights of patent holders: NHRC Chairperson Justice Arun Mishra

Amid a debate over patent waiver on Covid-19 vaccines, National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Justice Arun Mishra on Tuesday said right to life should prevail over the rights of patent holders to ensure that the scarcity of medicines related to the virus infection is overcome and made available to poor at affordable prices.

He made the observations during a session on 'State's Response to Covid-19 Pandemic' at the online global meeting of the Human Rights Council (HRC).

"The right to life should prevail over the rights of patent holders to ensure that the scarcity of the life-saving drugs, medicines and vaccines relating to Covid-19 is overcome in the world over and are made available to the poor at affordable prices," he said.

Justice Mishra said the world was facing "colossal loss" caused by the pandemic and new challenges have emerged for protecting the life and livelihoods of the marginalised sections of the society. He said education has suffered, healthcare infrastructure fell short, families left destitute and children have been orphaned.

He also touched on several key issues and expressed concern about how these were impacting human rights.

"These included, among others, e-commerce, which he said, has concentrated wealth in fewer hands. He also referred to the challenges of cross border terrorism and how the rehabilitation of its victims and drug peddling is lurking at large," an NHRC said.

While "cherishing the freedom of cyberspace", Justice Mishra cautioned that "it should not be misused to subvert the constitutional values".