India signs the WIPO Treaty

India signs the WIPO treaty at Geneva and has also announced that it is likely to ratify the treaty in May. As an outcome, India will be the first country to ratify the treaty. This is the culmination of Sightsavers great efforts where Sightsavers globally and India have been actively involved.

About WIPO:

The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WIPO Copyright Treaty or WCT) is an international treaty on copyright law adopted by the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It offers additional protections for copyright that is necessary due to advances in information technology since the formation of previous copyright treaties before it.

Responding to the WIPO treaty, Caroline Harper, Chief Executive of Sightsavers said, “This is really excellent news. Let us hope that this does happen. I assume that there will be plans to use this as an advocacy opportunity with other countries. We should make a big splash.”

Ketan Kothari, Regional Programme Development Advisor – Social Inclusion states that he is grateful that organization gave him special privilege to participate in this process.

About Sightsavers

Sightsavers is a global development organisation working to eliminate avoidable blindness and to ensure that people who are irreversibly blind receive the support they need to lead lives of independence and dignity.

Sightsavers has been working in India since 1966 on eye health and has reached out to over 35 million people.

Today, we work with partner organisations across major states in India bringing eye healthcare, educational support, counselling, training and leadership development to visually impaired people in some of the least served areas of the country.

We work in a sustainable way to promote lasting change – by strengthening existing health systems, seeking to advocate with and influence governments and by demonstrating best practises. We network with like-minded organisations to enable exchange of ideas and to advocate for the rights of the disabled.

Sightsavers believes in promoting indigenous technologies in eye healthcare enabling a wider reach of health services in India. For more information log on to staging-sightsaverswww.sightsaversindia.org