More than 300 activists, academics and organisations from around the world have urged SA and India to reject the leaked compromise deal that emerged earlier this year at World Trade Organization (WTO) talks on a waiver for intellectual property rights for Covid-19 technologies, saying it is a step backwards and would make it harder for developing countries to obtain vaccines and treatments.
The leak exposed a compromise position apparently reached by negotiators for the US, EU, SA and India that sought to break the deadlock over the IP waiver. SA and India had proposed in October 2020 that the WTO waive patents on Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments for the duration of the pandemic, to enable large-scale manufacturing of cheap generics.
The compromise proposes that only the patents on Covid-19 vaccines be waived, for up to five years. It excludes technology transfer and trade secrets and will not apply to countries such as China that export more than 10% of global Covid-19 vaccine supplies
In a letter sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the signatories said the leaked deal favoured the interests of the US and EU at the expense of developing countries.
“Without significant changes to the text, including the unconditional waiver of obstructive Trips [Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights] obligations, we will continue to see preventable deaths from Covid-19 and the global South will remain unprepared for the next major health crisis,” they wrote.
Among the 308 signatories are several SA health activists, academics and non-profit organisations, including Health Justice Initiative director Fatima Hassan, the Cancer Alliance’s Linda Greef, University of Johannesburg political economist Patrick Bond, and the SA Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance. They are joined by individuals and organisations from around the world, including Oxfam International, Action Aid, Christian Aid, the International Transport Workers Federation and India’s National Alliance of People’s Movements.
“This isn’t the comprehensive intellectual property waiver that India and SA demanded. It isn’t even a compromise,” said Mira Shiva from the All India Drug Action Network. “The WTO is letting the EU and US hammer out a rich country stitch-up. We urge Prime Minister Modi and President Ramaphosa to reject this capitulation and demand the full Trips waiver that is needed for the global fight against Covid-19 and future health crises,” she said.
More than 100 countries initially backed the plan flighted by SA and India in 2020. The US has shifted its position to supporting a waiver solely for vaccines, a view shared by New Zealand and Australia. Pharmaceutical companies that hold patents on Covid-19 vaccines and treatments have opposed the proposed waiver from the outset.
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