US is learnt to have told both India & South Africa that while it supports temporary TRIPS waiver, it will 'only' be applicable to Covid vaccines and not to medicines, ventilators etc.
It is time countries acted with a humanitarian approach at WTO and relaxed IPR provisions for Covid-19 vaccines. And it can be done without disincentivising R&D efforts.
For President Joe Biden to take a stand against pharmaceutical companies is no small matter. His presidential campaign was the near sole beneficiary of pharma largesse in 2020.
India and South Africa have proposed a broad waiver from the Trips agreement’s rules on the production and export of vaccines needed to combat the Covid-19 virus.
A lot of obstacles have slowed things down, not all patent-related: Raw materials supplies, the complexity of new technologies and logistical issues in scaling up production.
US, EU, Canada and other developed nations, with access to Covid-19 vaccines, must stop opposing India and South Africa's proposal to waive patent and intellectual property rights.
WTO members US, UK, EU, Japan, Australia, Canada & Switzerland are offering stiff resistance to India and South Africa’s proposal to waive intellectual property rights on Covid vaccines.
India’s industrial output growth saw a 10-month low in June, with Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growing by mere 1.5% as against 1.9% in May 2025.
Standing up to America is usually not a personal risk for a leader in India. Any suggestions of foreign pressure unites India behind who they see as leading them in that fight.
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