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The announcement this week by the United States that it is in favour of a call by South Africa and India for big pharmaceutical companies to waive intellectual property rights protection for Covid-19 vaccines doesn't mean it has been accomplished, but it shows significant progress.
"When the US comes into this negotiation, it does change things," said Mustaqeem de Gama, South Africa's counsellor accredited to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
"It's a good move forward. It doesn't mean that we get the waiver for free, but it's a realisation of a strategy that we wanted to move to text-based discussion, and the fact that the US has now signalled that it is willing to do so has brought other nations into the camp."
South-africaUnited-statesIndiaWorld-trade-organisationMustaqeem-de-gamaஒன்றுபட்டது-மாநிலங்களில்இந்தியாஉலகம்-வர்த்தகம்-ஆர்கநைஸேஶந்மஸ்டேகீயீம்-டி-காமா Trade Representative Katherine Tai made the announcement.
United States President Joseph Biden has made it clear that after weighing all the pros and cons he was in favor of waiving intellectual property rights on anticovid-19 vaccine patents so that they can be produced faster and the world can finally overcome the current pandemic.
Trade Representative Katherine Tai made the announcement. This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures, she said in a statement.
The administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines. We will actively participate in text-based negotiations at the World Trade Organization needed to make that happen, she added.
South-africaDohaAd-daw-ahQatarJapanUnited-statesCanadaUnited-kingdomAmericaSouth-africanJoseph-bidenNelson-mandela'Staggering' Consequences: Biden Backs Waiving COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Protections Amid WHO Warning
KEY POINTS
It would help scale up the vaccine production
Vaccines would become more affordable
In a move that may help ramp up global production of the COVID-19 vaccines, especially in poor nations amid the deadly pandemic, the U.S. has announced its support behind a World Trade Organization (WTO) proposal to waive intellectual property rights for the jabs. The (Joe) Biden administration on Wednesday said its aim is “to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible.”
In a statement, U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai said that the “extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures." ...The administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines."
South-africaJapanIndiaCanadaBrazilKatherine-taiJoe-biden-ustraderep-ambassadortaiTedros-adhanom-ghebreyesusJoe-bidenEuropean-unionWorld-health-organizationWorld-trade-organizationCovid-19 vaccine makers have complained about South Africa in a letter to Joe Biden – here’s what it says
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A number of top Covid-19 vaccine makers have sent a letter to US president Joe Biden, warning against efforts to undermine American intellectual property and innovation-dependent manufacturing jobs.
The letter specifically takes aim at South Africa and India’s efforts to suspend Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) at the World Trade Organization.
The letter, which was signed by senior executives at Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca, was sent by pharmaceutical lobbying group PhRMA.
“Intellectual property protections have been essential not only to speed the research and development of new treatments and vaccines, but also to facilitate sharing of technology and information to scale up vaccine manufacturing to meet global needs.
South-africaUnited-statesIndiaSouth-africanAmericanJoe-bidenCouncil-forPfizerAstrazenecaWorld-trade-organizationJohnsonAfrican-permanent-mission