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Only in the United States can innovators create a lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine at “warp speed.”
The same can’t be said for bad actors such as China, which cheats and steals what America innovates. That’s precisely why we need to protect our innovators’ intellectual property rights, especially when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine.
In recent months, members of the World Trade Organization’s Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights have attempted to undermine legal IP protections for COVID-related technologies such as vaccines. These members have requested a waiver for these protections so foreign nations, including China, can reap the benefits of the hard work and investments made by U.S. vaccine developers.
Mon Jul 12, 2021 12:00 AM
Bangladesh has been able to fully vaccinate 2.6 percent of its population while India has vaccinated 5.1 percent of its people fully. Photo: Star >
Bangladesh has been able to fully vaccinate 2.6 percent of its population while India has vaccinated 5.1 percent of its people fully. Photo: Star
The inequality in accessing vaccines to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic is growing. Since the invention of the vaccines, there was apprehension regarding the accessibility of the vaccines by the citizens of poorer countries. The supply of vaccines is also far less than the demand. And whatever is being manufactured are being purchased by developed countries in advance and in plenty, leaving low and lower middle-income countries far behind in the vaccination drive. Many high-income countries have already managed to vaccinate a large number of their population. Whereas, most people in the least developed countries (LDCs) are still waiting for their shots and struggling t
Says Debapriya Bhattacharya
Debapriya Bhattacharya >
Debapriya Bhattacharya
Bangladesh should launch intensive negotiations with World Trade Organization (WTO) members to secure the benefits of the platform s agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), said a noted economist yesterday.
This should continue even after Bangladesh makes the United Nations status graduation from a least developed to a developing country in 2026, said Debapriya Bhattacharya at a virtual discussion with a group of journalists.
The WTO General Council will discuss the extension of the TRIPS benefits for both the LDCs and those who made the status graduation in a meeting in Geneva on July 26-27.
WTOâs IP waiver for Covid-19 vaccines faces structural headwinds
By Ashraf Patel
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The Biden administration in the US signalling its intention to support a Covid intellectual property (IP) waiver was welcomed, alas, besides being a case of a ââtoo little, too lateâ.
Since the early days of the pandemic, progressive international organisations such MSF (Doctors Without Borders) and the Third World Network (TWN), have strongly supported the TRIPS (The Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver proposal on grounds that it would accelerate efforts by developing countries to collectively fight the Covid-19 through creating requisite capacities for manufacturing the vital personal protective equipments including face masks, therapeutics, and vaccines.
Start negotiations with members of WTO to secure TRIPS waiver: Debapriya thedailystar.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thedailystar.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.