Profits of pharma companies prevail over global good: India seeks patent waiver on Covid vaccines
India Today
The package of measures, which the WTO is negotiating as part of the response to Covid-19 pandemic, must include the patent waiver proposal of India and South Africa, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said.
A move by 65 odd nations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to craft a consensus on softening patent rules that block access to Covid vaccines, drugs and equipment for large swathes of the globe, has run into a roadblock and possibilities of a “comprehensive solution“ to battle a crisis has diminished.
India on Monday at the 12th Ministerial Conference of WTO lodged a strong protest and disappointment over member countries limiting a proposal for waiver of patents on vaccines, drugs and equipment mooted by India and South Africa almost 20 months ago “only to vaccines” and further restricting the scope of flexibility to the export of only vaccines with multiple pre-conditions.
Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal at the thematic session in response to the pandemic and TRIPS waiver at MC 12 (ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation) said, ”For India, our response to the pandemic would not be complete without a TRIPS waiver.“
In a session attended by all WTO members and chaired by the DG WTO, he added, ”In the course of my discussions, it has been indicated that favour was being done to the developing countries. I think it's pretty clear that rather than concern for humanity, for the hundreds of thousands of lives lost or the millions affected, it is sad that the super-profits of a few pharmaceutical companies prevail over global good.”
The minister’s scathing attack came after texts of two drafts in response to the pandemic came up for an intervention in the WTO MC12. One was an overarching response to the pandemic and the other specifically on the TRIPS waiver.
While the proposal by India and South Africa had 100 odd countries supporting it, there are 65 odd member countries which had tagged along as co-sponsors and a lot of convergence was crafted.
The Indian waiver proposal included temporary, not in perpetuity, relaxations in IPR rules on vaccines, drugs and equipment. It also included therapeutics and diagnostics to assist poor nations in battling ongoing and future pandemics.
