PM Modi, Australian PM Morrison discuss affordable and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines Poulomi Saha PM Modi, Australian PM Morrison discuss affordable and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines
Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed initiatives for equitable and affordable access to Covid-19 vaccines with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison over phone. PM Modi and PM Morrison agreed that the vaccines are crucial for fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
The two leaders spoke in the backdrop an exponential surge in Covid-19 cases in India and growing chorus across the world for a waiver on intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines under the mechanism set up by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Print this article A healthcare worker prepares a syringe with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pop-up vaccination site in New York City, January 29, 2021.
(Mike Segar/Reuters) Patent rights were key to the unprecedentedly rapid development and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
Waiving intellectual property protections (including patents) for COVID-19 vaccines, which, as U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai announced Wednesday, the Biden administration supports, will if implemented prove disastrous for American innovation and detrimental to public health as well.
Patents are property rights that allow inventors to exclude third parties from copying and using novel patented technologies for 20 years from the time a petition for a patent is filed. Patents are particularly important in the medical field, underpinning the “miracle drugs” and vaccines that save and better countless lives.
The Vaccine Waiver Invites Reform of Intellectual-Property Abuses
Anthony Behar/Sipa USA via AP Images
Activists demonstrate outside Pfizerâs headquarters in New York to demand President Biden support lifting intellectual-property protection for the COVID-19 vaccine, April 22, 2021.
The drug industry is fiercely resisting Bidenâs proposed waiver of intellectual-property protections, not just because of lost exorbitant profits this year and next, but because the waiver is the proverbial camelâs nose under the tent.
And the industry is right. The entire intellectual-property regime of patents, trademarks, and copyrights has become a protectionist racket to favor incumbents, block innovators, promote monopoly prices, and harm consumers.
Publishing date: May 07, 2021 • 1 day ago • 8 minute read WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 21: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the COVID-19 response and the state of vaccinations at the South Court Auditorium of Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. As of today, President Biden said the United States has distributed 200 million shots of COVID-19 vaccine. Photo by Alex Wong /Getty Images
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Former British prime minister Gordon Brown has been pushing for a more equitable global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, urging the community of nations to adequately fund vaccination campaigns in the developing world.
Brown, who currently serves as the United Nations special envoy for global education, joined a World Health Organization news conference on May 3 to address the pressing need for mass vaccinations in low- and middle-income countries. “By our failure to extend vaccination more rapidly to every country, we are
Modi speaks to Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on access to equitable vaccines & medicines
During the call, PM Modi also sought Australia s support for initiative taken at WTO by India & South Africa to seek a temporary waiver in this context, as per the PMO.
PTI 7 May, 2021 7:15 pm IST Text Size:
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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on Friday as the two leaders agreed on the importance of ensuring equitable access to vaccines and medicines, and discussed possible initiatives for it.
Modi and Morrison also reiterated the importance of working together for a rules-based international order and a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.