Am J Public Health. 2012 Jun;102(6):1091-5. Epub 2012 Apr 19.
Integrating biodiversity management and indigenous biopiracy protection to promote environmental justice and global health.
Source
Timothy K. Mackey is with the Institute of Health Law Studies, California Western School of Law, San Diego, and the Joint Doctoral Program on Global Health, University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University. Bryan A. Liang is with the Institute of Health Law Studies, California Western School of Law, San Diego, and the San Diego Center for Patient Safety and the Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego.
Abstract
Many potentially useful medicines arise from developing countries' biodiverse environments and indigenous knowledge. However, global intellectual property rules have resulted in biopiracy, raising serious ethical concerns of environmental justice, exploitation, and health disparities in these populations. Furthermore, state-based approaches have not led to adequate biodiversity protection, management, or resource sharing, which affect access to lifesaving drugs. In response, country delegates adopted the Nagoya Protocol, which aims at promoting biodiversity management, combating biopiracy, and encouraging equitable benefits sharing with indigenous communities. However, the effectiveness of this framework in meeting these objectives remains in question. To address these challenges, we propose a policy building on the Nagoya Protocol that employs a World Health Organization-World Trade Organization Joint Committee on Bioprospecting and Biopiracy.
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