Global health agencies rally for equitable access to COVID and other vaccines

By Darshana Abayasingha

UN Undersecretary-General, UNAIDS Executive Director and Co-Chair of People’s Vaccine Alliance Winnie Byanyima yesterday said the determination of South Africa, India and more than 100 other countries to clear away intellectual property barriers for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments provides a glimmer of hope in the darkest days of this pandemic. However, she noted the conduct of some rich countries in these negotiations’ risks extinguishing that light.

There is overwhelming support from all but a handful of governments in support of waiving intellectual property for property on all essential COVID medical technologies, including therapeutics, tests, vaccines during the ongoing pandemic.

“Most countries refuse to put profits of pharmaceutical companies before the lives of people in developing countries. I urge those blocking a full, straightforward waiver to see reason and show solidarity with people in developing countries,” Byanyima stated.

People’s Vaccine Alliance, Oxfam, Section 27 of South Africa and Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders jointly held a press conference calling on all Trade Ministers, currently negotiating the draft Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement at the World Trade Organisation’s 12th Ministerial Conference in Geneva, urging them not to accept the current negotiating text. 

The draft text represents backsliding that could set a negative precedent for access to medicines. The groups will implore governments to adopt a real TRIPS Waiver that will adequately address intellectual property on all essential COVID-19 medical technologies, including treatments, tests, and vaccines during the ongoing pandemic that has claimed more than 15 million lives.

The alliance charged that in places like Africa, where less people have been vaccinated, there is great need for therapeutics and the lack of which could lead to loss of life in low to middle income countries. “We really call on these countries to be driven by human rights rather than corporate greed and capitalism. Although many countries seem to be driven by human rights, those considerations don’t seem to form part of their action,” they said.

The speakers charged that countries like the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland and the EU are blocking the advancement against COVID-19 and are protecting the unfathomable profits of pharmaceutical companies. “Without a full TRIPS waiver, the WTO action is useless,” they said, noting that civil society has been criticised for raising legitimate concerns.

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders International President Christos Christou said: “During the pandemic, MSF has repeatedly spoken out about the glaring gap in access to COVID-19 medical tools that we have witnessed first-hand in the places where we work. It is disheartening that calls for a global solution to overcome intellectual property barriers that was supported by frontline health workers, community networks, academics, civil society groups and millions of people across the globe went largely ignored. 

“We are concerned that the alternative text that is under negotiation now is inadequate and does not offer a meaningful response to the current pandemic or any future health crisis.”

Byanyima added: “We are living in a world of pandemics, and we are not done with it. There are billions of people who are not vaccinated in many countries, and these could be countries where a more deadly variant could incubate.”

“Time is running out to deliver a meaningful outcome of almost two years of negotiations. Developing countries have shown determination and have shown the evidence for why a real waiver is needed. They have also made a compelling case for why so-called TRIPS-plus provisions could set an incredibly dangerous precedent not only for COVID-19 but for other diseases. We are looking for a cure and vaccine for HIV and I am worried that this current document raises the IP barrier for HIV technologies,” she said.

The TRIPS agreement introduced intellectual property law into the multilateral trading system and remains the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property to date. In 2001, developing countries, concerned that developed countries were insisting on an overly narrow reading of TRIPS, initiated a round of talks that resulted in the Doha Declaration. The Doha declaration is a WTO statement that clarifies the scope of TRIPS, stating for example that TRIPS can and should be interpreted in light of the goal “to promote access to medicines for all”.

 The UK, EU, and Switzerland have been major blockers of the TRIPS Waiver for 20 months while millions have died without access to COVID-19 vaccines, noted Anna Marriot of Oxfam GB. “They have repeatedly disrupted negotiations using the amendment process to ensure that any text is difficult to use or implement. It would be totally false for rich countries to shift the blame for the current state of TRIPS negotiations onto anybody else,” she said.