Support for the TRIPS Covid-19 waiver is steadily starting to gain momentum.
Professor Jackie Dugard, from the University of the Witwatersrand, says more than 100 countries are now supporting the initiative.
Audio PlayerThe initiative was originally put forward by India and South Africa in October of 2020.
The initiative calls for the temporary waiving of companies’ rights to intellectual property to allow poorer countries to produce their own Covid-19 vaccines.
Dugard says this would, in the long run, significantly increase access to vaccines.
Audio PlayerRead more on the initiative here.
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We need to ensure that once they are proven to be safe and effective, they should be equally available to all countries. For this reason we still insist on a #TRIPSWaiver, even in its various forms where it can be negotiated.
#ACTAccelerator— Cyril Ramaphosa
(@CyrilRamaphosa) December 9, 2021
.@NOIweala highlights the importance of the multilateral trading system in the pandemic response and calls on WTO members to do more to promote equitable access to #COVID19 vaccines and other related medical products. Read the latest WTO monitoring report: https://t.co/xr6gqoZ7vp pic.twitter.com/qOOuZgr4YP
— WTO (@wto) December 9, 2021
