Vaccine Access Negotiations to Resume as New Variants Spread

Vaccine access negotiations are at critical juncture. While many countries support the intellectual property rights waiver, including the European parliament the European Union does not. Credit: PAHO/Karen GonzálezBy Lyndal RowlandsMelbourne, Australia , Aug 30 2021 (IPS) A committee that has spent almost a year negotiating the terms of a temporary intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 medicines will reconvene in September after pausing for the European Summer. As new variants spread rapidly around the world, the deadlock in the World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Committee has potentially further delayed access to vaccines and other medicines for billions of people in low- and middle-income countries. The waiver, initially proposed by India and South Africa in October 2020 has attracted sponsorship and support from several other countries. After widespread campaigning, the United States added its support in May. Yet, while the European parliament also backs the proposal, the European Union does not, in part due to continued opposition from Germany, which is home to a substantial pharmaceutical industry. The decreasing number of countries holding out from supporting the waiver continued to stall negotiations right up until they paused at the end of July. This is even though the waiver is only being put forward as a temporary measure until the pandemic is under control. Leena Menghaney, the head of Médecins Sans FrontiÃ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Development & Aid Economy & Trade Featured Global Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies TerraViva United Nations COVAX COVID-19 vaccines TRIPS. WTO Source Type: news