Advertisement
Pressure grows on world leaders to scrap patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines
- The World Trade Organization is considering a proposal to waive intellectual property rights amid a surge in cases in India
- Pressure is mounting on world leaders to back the moves and there are signs that the US is seriously considering the proposal
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
28
Pressure is mounting for world leaders to waive intellectual property protections on Covid-19 vaccines in a bid to increase global production.
On Friday the World Trade Organization debated a proposal that would temporarily waive protections on patents, copyrights, and industrial designs for products to fight Covid-19, which was first put before the body by South Africa and India in October.
The discussions come as many countries are still scrambling to get hold of vaccines and with India’s Covid-19 surge hitting supplies to the world’s poorest countries.
Supporters say the measure would help manufacturers to begin making doses and exporting them to where they are most needed, but critics question whether this is the best way to expand supply.
“Around the world people are dying because they’re not vaccinated, they’re not tested and they’re not treated,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has thrown the weight of the global health body behind the proposed waiver, said last week.
Advertisement