Biden urged to stop blocking of Covid WTO waiver suggested by India and South Africa

Washington, March 2

Coming out in support of India and South Africa, hundreds of American civil society organisations and three top lawmakers have urged US President Joe Biden not to block the waiver to Covid vaccines at the WTO, asserting that it will boost the treatment of coronavirus patients worldwide.

The  World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) requires countries to provide lengthy monopoly protections for medicines, tests, and technologies used to produce them.

While there is production capacity in every region, the WTO rules block the timely and unfettered access to the formulas and technology needed to boost manufacturing. Unless much greater volumes are made, many people in developing nations may not get Covid vaccines until 2024, a statement said.

The unnecessary loss of life will be compounded by the loss of livelihoods for millions. According to an International Chamber of Commerce study, the world could face economic losses of more than USD 9 trillion under the scenario of wealthy nations being fully vaccinated by mid-2021, but poor countries largely shut out, it said.

"The Covid pandemic knows no borders and the need for vaccine development and dissemination across the globe is critically important. The TRIPS waiver raised by India and South Africa at the WTO would help the global community move forward in defeating the scourge of Covid by making diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines available in developing countries,” Congressman Rosa DeLauro, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said at a press conference on Monday.

The vaccines must be made available everywhere to defeat this virus anywhere. The US has a moral imperative to act and support this waiver at the WTO, DeLauro said, expressing hope that the Biden administration would support this waiver to help US' allies around the globe bring an end to this pandemic.

"As a global community, we must come together and use every tool at our disposal to stop this pandemic. Unfortunately, we have seen intellectual property rules and corporate greed have disastrous impacts for public health during past epidemics, and we need to ensure that this doesn't happen again,” said Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade chair. PTI

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