Scientists clash over ethics of global vaccine roll-out
International mechanisms for sharing COVID-19 vaccines have come under fire from scientists around the world for reinforcing rather than combating inequity in global health provision, and for encouraging parochial nationalist responses to the pandemic.
The ethical furore has led to finger-pointing among public health experts eager to attribute blame for shortages in the supply of vaccines at national level.
Big pharma, with the support of wealthy countries, has continued to block a move supported by the majority at the World Health Organization (WHO) to waive intellectual property rights restrictions in order to enable poorer countries to produce their own generic vaccines.
Towards a People’s Vaccine Campaign: A call to action
15 Jan 2021
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The Covid-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc millions in South Africa and globally are being infected and dying. Vaccinating a significant part of the population is the only realistic way to defeat the pandemic. Achieving this will require international co-operation and solidarity. Unity in action across all sectors of our society is now paramount. We need vigilance and solidarity to slow the rate of infection and to unburden health facilities. The reported acquisition of 1.5 million doses of C-19 vaccines for frontline healthcare workers is welcomed, but this must be the start of urgently acquiring millions more. An estimated 40 to 80 million doses will be needed, along with a massive roll-out effort to achieve herd immunity. This cannot be done by the government alone. We, the people, especially the millions of poor and working-class people, must be central to this effort.
At the end of December
Maverick Citizenreported on a process launched by the C-19 People’s Coalition to develop a vaccine alliance and plan. This week, what has evolved into the People’s Vaccine Campaign published a call to action (see below) which has already been endorsed by more than 500 organisations across civil society. These include the Black Sash, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, academic institutes, trade unions and the South African Council of Churches (Gauteng). The list is growing rapidly.
The call to action envisages a multifaceted campaign of vaccine literacy, monitoring and mobilisation to make sure no one is left behind. For example, one of civil society’s concerns is the silence on including migrants and refugees (documented and undocumented) in the vaccine campaign. As former health minister Aaron Motsoaledi should know, exclusion makes no sense from a public health perspective. As the president should know, continental solidarity
New plant varieties (seeds and other propagating material)
India, being a signatory of Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights, has enacted various statutes to
protect and deal with the most of the Intellectual Property Rights,
as mentioned above.
Now, let us refer to some of the Indian case laws to find out
the attributes of the intellectual property rights:
In the case of
and Ors.
(
AIR2011SC 3336), the Hon ble Supreme Court of India
has relied on the definition of the Intellectual Property as
provided in Black s Law Dictionary, 7th Edition, page 813,
which states as under:
The term intellectual
property refers to a category of intangible rights protecting