Focus: How to stop the spread of coronavirus. Video / AP / Mark Mitchell
OPINION
This week, representatives from 164 countries will gather virtually at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) General Council – a meeting New Zealand will be chairing.
One burning item on the agenda that we, as a medical humanitarian organisation, will be keenly following is whether a landmark proposal to facilitateaccess to Covid-19 medical tools will be supported by the majority.
Until now, seven countries plus the European Union bloc are opposing this proposal. Why? Because they say other mechanisms are in place to enable countries to purchase, import and manufacture the drugs, diagnostics, vaccines and medical equipment they need to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.
We disagree. These mechanisms aren't fast or broad enough to tackle the pandemic on a global scale and will leave millions behind.
A woman in Madrid wearing a face mask reading in Spanish: 'Only the people can save the people'. Photo / Manu Fernandez, AP
In October, India and South Africa proposed a solution. They called on the WTO to prevent member countries from enforcing patents, trade secrets and pharmaceutical monopolies on all Covid-19 medical tools under the WTO agreement on trade-related intellectual property rights, known as TRIPS.
This waiver would allow governments and companies to freely collaborate to produce and supply more Covid-19 medical tools and harness unused capacity in developing countries to manufacture more affordable drugs, tests and vaccines until global herd immunity is reached. It simply states that intellectual property rules concerning Covid-19 are off-limits until the WHO confirms the pandemic is over.
This bold move by India and South Africa offers the world the chance to avoid repeating the tragedy of the HIV/Aids epidemic 20 years ago, when monopolies on lifesaving treatments left millions in developing countries to die while people in high income countries got access to HIV medicines.
More than 100 countries support this waiver along with global health bodies, including Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the World Health Organisation, UNAIDS and UNITAID.
So far, New Zealand hasn't indicated whether or not it will support or oppose the TRIPS waiver
Jennifer Tierney. Photo / Supplied
When the Covid-19 pandemic was declared, there was overwhelming consensus among states on the urgent need for international collaboration to speed up product development, scale-up manufacturing, expand the supply of effective medical technologies and ensure everyone, everywhere, is protected from its impact.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said that "This is a time for us to come together to achieve a global solution. As long as one person is at risk from Covid-19, we are all at risk."
But global supply of vaccines is likely to be far short of what is needed, constrained by limited manufacturing capacity and countries hoarding doses. Wealthy countries, representing only 13 per cent of the global population, have already locked up at least half of the doses of the world's five leading potential vaccines.
Despite the potential shortages, pharmaceutical companies continue to fiercely defend their intellectual property, knowingly limiting manufacturing and supply capacities.
Pharma companies have rejected initiatives calling for open sharing of Covid-19 technologies.
They're treating it as business as usual. Many of these companies received billions of dollars in government funding to support fast-tracked research, development, testing and trials for vaccines and treatments.
The proposed waiver would temporarily empower governments to take expedited actions when accessing IP-protected technologies that are needed to protect public health.
The countries that are opposing the waiver say intellectual property is not a barrier and that flexibility within trade rules, such as compulsory licences or parallel importations, allows countries to import or manufacture medical products if public health priorities demand it.
Based on our experience, we know these flexibilities don't go far enough to respond to the urgent, global needs of a pandemic, because they require a product-by-product, country-by-country agreement. This is why the waiver is so important. It upends the secretive government/pharmaceutical backroom bargaining for one-off deals and fast tracks solutions.
Put simply, if New Zealand doesn't support this waiver, it stands directly in the way of others saving lives. The reality is the pandemic isn't over until it's over for everyone.
• Jennifer Tierney is the executive director of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Australia & New Zealand.
