Professor Thomas Pogge (pictured) from Yale University delivered Professor Dr. Arjun K. Sengupta First Memorial Lecture at the O.P. Jindal Global University, on October 25, 2011. He strongly emphasized on the establishment of global institutional reforms in order to eradicate poverty, fulfill human rights and to secure global justice.

He further said that the global poor would have access to the new medicines which will be developed under the Health Impact Fund (HIF). According to Prof. Pogge the establishment of Health Impact Fund will act as a complement to the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.

He said the benefit of HIF would be that it would act as an incentive to the innovators of the new medicine and the innovators, who register under HIF, will be rewarded based on its global health impact. Moreover, the additional benefit of this scheme is that the global poor will have access to better medical facilities at subsidized rates.

Prof. Pogge pointed that 90 percent of the diseases of the world receive only 10 percent of the medical research worldwide. He also pointed out that severe poverty and a massive disease burdens are human rights violations when they are the foreseeable effect of active conduct by human agents and an effect these agents could avoid without undue hardship.

Further, Prof. Pogge also highlighted the fact that the stronger nations only violate the human rights of the weaker nations and the latter only look at the short term benefits and aggravate diseases and jeopardize their human rights at large.

The Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University, Prof. C. Raj Kumar, stressed the need to undertake inter-disciplinary research to address issues related to poverty and development. He emphasized the need to undertake critical research in law, business, international affairs, Government and Public policy.

The Inaugural Issue of the Jindal Journal of International Affairs (JJIA) was also released on the occasion of Dr. Arjun K. Sengupta First Memorial Lecture.