Viral Sovereignty and Intellectual Property

The blog Futurismic as an interesting post on “viral sovereignty.” According to a recent Washington Post op-ed by Richard Holbrooke and Laurie Garrett: 

This extremely dangerous idea comes to us courtesy of Indonesia’s minister of health, Siti Fadilah Supari, who asserts that deadly viruses are the sovereign property of individual nations — even though they cross borders and could pose a pandemic threat to all the peoples of the world.

And, in case you think this is just a quirky footnote, Holbrooke and Garrett explain:

 A year ago, Supari’s assertions about “viral sovereignty” seemed to be odd yet individual views. Disturbingly, however, the notion has morphed into a global movement, fueled by self-destructive, anti-Western sentiments. In May, Indian Health Minister A. Ramadoss endorsed the concept in a dispute with Bangladesh. The Non-Aligned Movement — a 112-nation organization that is a survivor of the Cold War era — has agreed to consider formally endorsing the concept of “viral sovereignty” at its November meeting.

Check out both the post at Futurismic and the underlying op-ed.