Developing countries should not be coerced into accepting a bad deal on waiving intellectual property rights but insist on one that puts lives before profits or political agendas.
The Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is this week discussing the “Draft Decision” presented a few days ago by the WTO Secretariat in relation to a proposal to waive certain intellectual property rights, which have acted as barriers to greater access to vaccines and other health products, resulting in global health inequity following a leaked text shared in March 2022.
An alternative, more comprehensive proposal, designed to support health justice and meaningfully bring this pandemic – and the next – under control was proposed by South Africa and India nearly two years ago, in October 2020, but it has been blocked by the European Union, the UK, Switzerland, Canada and other rich countries for the past 20 months.
Globally, more than 100 countries, world leaders past and present, the pope, faith groups, academics, activists, researchers, politicians and hundreds of thousands of people across the world have called on these rich countries to “walk the talk” of solidarity – but they have simply ignored them.
These are the same countries…
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