PHM-Exch> Brilliant short video from TWN on Europe's broken promises on equitable access

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: <dglegge01 at gmail.com>

COVID 19: Europe's Broken Promises on Equitable Access
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD8McADeWvs>



At the beginning of the pandemic, many global leaders and in particular EU
leaders promised equitable access i.e. that vaccines, treatments etc will
be considered as “global public goods”, underscoring that international
solidarity and cooperation is key to combating the pandemic. However, these
promises remain unfulfilled. Instead, the disparity in access to vaccines,
therapeutics, diagnostics and other medical tools between high-income
countries and the rest of the world is staggering.



The official death toll is 4.9 million deaths. But the Economist predicts
that the actual toll is likely to be approximately 15.9 million people with
the pandemic increasingly affecting developing countries. Delayed
vaccination and access are forecasted to massively increase infections and
with that the spread of variants and mutations and a rise in the number of
deaths. The economic impacts of delayed vaccination and access are also
devastating the developing countries.



Equitable access i.e. timely availability and affordability of COVID-19
medical products especially vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics are
essential. This requires production to be diversified and for developing
country manufacturers to be engaged in the supply of these products. For
this to happen intellectual property barriers have to be addressed.



India and South Africa with the support of the majority of the WTO Members
have called on the WTO to waive certain obligations (patents, trade
secrets, copyright and industrial designs) contained in the World Trade
Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS) in relation to the containment, prevention and treatment of
COVID-19. This proposal is also supported globally by civil society, world
leaders, faith leaders, parliamentarians etc.



This TRIPS waiver proposal is being blocked in the WTO by a few developed
countries especially the EU, UK and Switzerland that support intellectual
property monopolies so that the pharmaceutical industry can maximise
profits. But this risks prolonging the pandemic and comes at the cost of
many lives and livelihoods, especially in developing countries.
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