The inventor of hydroalcoholic gel has given up on getting rich: “Hand hygiene is too simple, too necessary, for it to be patented”

His invention saves millions of lives a year and he could have taken advantage of it to enrich himself. However, the doctor Didier Pittet preferred not to patent his discovery for the good of the community.

In the late 1990s, the epidemiologist and infectious disease doctor at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), Didier Pittet, revolutionized the world with the help of pharmacist William Griffiths by inventing hydroalcoholic gel.

Today more than before, his discovery would have allowed him to enrich himself immensely. However, he preferred to donate the hydroalcoholic gel patent to the WHO, which makes it possible to produce it locally at a lower cost worldwide: “Hand hygiene is too simple, too necessary for it to be patented. I never thought about it,” he explains, simply, in a report on TF1.

“You would be one of the richest men in the world”, points out the journalist to him. “Maybe, maybe not, it doesn’t matter”, replies the professor.

He thus estimates that, if he received 0.1 centimes per bottle of gel sold, his receipts would amount today to 1.7 billion Swiss francs per year.

His employer believes that he is ” the most expensive doctor in the world, for shortfall. “

In addition, the infectious disease specialist took advantage of the report to criticize the current surge in the price of his invention: “It costs about 1 euro. To sell it suddenly at 20 euros is totally disrespectful,” he condemns. .

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