Will disputes over data ownership prolong the pandemic?
Will disputes over data ownership prolong the pandemic? Probably yes.
Check out the Reuters article Who owns the virus? Pandemic sparks debate on data sharing by Rina Chandran published June 4. She outlines data ownership disputes that could actually prolong the COVID-19 pandemic if important medical research or access to medicine are stymied by a lack of data sharing or vaccine pricing disputes.
Here in the US we have already seen how pandemic deaths differ sharply by income groups; fear of unequal access to prevention or treatment is well founded both here and elsewhere. Even if the Chinese did share genetic sequencing data in January to kickstart necessary R&D worldwide it’s difficult to predict where needed prevention or treatment solutions will emerge given the role that chance and personal initiative still play in research.
We have already seen how difficult it is to accelerate clinical trials. Add in disputes between “developed” and “developing” countries over not just data access but the pricing of medicine, as described by Chandran, and the possibility of uneven access to needed medicine in some countries becomes real.
Making research data “open,” “accessible,” and “shareable” across political and economic barriers is only one step in combatting the pandemic. Also needed are other resources including people, research and testing infrastructure, discipline, international cooperation, and an acceptance of the fact that chance and imagination — which are difficult if not impossible to control — also play a role in developing and distributing new drugs.
Given the political and financial barriers that can hinder needed cooperation it is important that all nations — including the US — participate in making sure that such barriers are minimized if only to make sure that the interests of their own people are take into account.
Also needed is an understanding that making “open data” policies really work requires money, management, and other resources. Otherwise there is a high probability that the “long tail” of disease-induced death and destruction will be lengthened.
Copyright (c) 2020 by Dennis D. McDonald
