Patents or life: European citizens for patent suspension and sharing the vaccine

67 national organisations ask that, at the meeting of the World Trade Organization on March 11^th, Draghi supports the suspension of vaccine patents proposed by India and South Africa.

On March 11^th, the proposal made by India and South Africa to suspend patents on vaccines and anti-COVID-19 drugs until herd immunity is achieved will be discussed at the TRIPs Council (Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights) of the World Trade Organization. INTERSOS has signed, together with 66 other entities gathered in the European Campaign #NoProfitOnPandemic, a letter asking the Italian government to support the necessary proposal from India and South Africa at the WTO.

To the Prime Minister

Dr. Mario Draghi

To the President of the Chamber of Deputies

Hon. Roberto Fico

To the President of the Senate

Hon. Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati

The national committee for the European Citizens’ Initiative (ICE) / European petition “Right2cure – No profit on pandemic” “Right to Care, no profit on the pandemic” (www.noprofitonpandemic.eu) which gathers over 60 national institutions, believes that the time has come to make a formal appeal to our government. At the turn of the century, the monopoly of intellectual property in HIV treatment delayed the life-saving antiretroviral treatment of people living with HIV in Africa, Latin America and Asia by 10 years compared to those living in the United States, the European Union, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Japan. This led to millions of deaths in the late 1990s and mid-2000s, until patent barriers were abolished and generic drugs for the treatment of HIV became available.

Let us avoid the same death scenario being recreated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that, by mid-January, 40 million people had already been vaccinated in 49 high-income countries, while in low-income countries; only 25 people had received an injection. Once again, the so-called “developing” countries, lacking protections to guarantee fundamental rights, such as health and life, must struggle to access vaccines and drugs against a global epidemic, such as that from COVID-19.

This happens because pharmaceutical companies, despite having received public funding of several billion euros, own the patent on the final product and therefore have full control over the production, price and distribution of vaccines. This allows them not to share technology, retain intellectual property and limit the research, development and supply of effective vaccines, reaping a majority of the huge financial rewards.

If this situation persists, 9 out of 10 people in low-income countries will not be able to be vaccinated this year because in 2021 Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and AstreZeneca, will produce vaccines for only 1.5% of the world population (People’s Vaccine Alliance, on Oxfam International).  We can say that intellectual property is the biggest obstacle to the equitable, timely, and universal access to life-saving vaccines, and ultimately to overcoming the pandemic. In a globalized world, in the absence of a truly inclusive response, the virus will continue to circulate and change, nullifying the economic and social efforts made by the world population in respecting the restrictions implemented by governments during the last twelve months.

There are, however options that allow us to overcome the limitations of the patent system, at least for the duration of the pandemic, that we urge governments to use. We therefore ask you to support at the European level the proposal which has been on the table of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for several months and which calls for the temporary suspension of the patent system for COVID-19 products at least until we have achieved worldwide herd immunity. The proposal, presented by India and South Africa in early October, which does not constitute an attack on intellectual property law as such, would allow all countries of the world to disregard some of the intellectual property provisions set out in the agreement TRIPs without incurring penalties.

To date, more than 100 countries have welcomed and supported the proposal, while 400 civic society organizations around the world, along with international organizations such as WHO, UNAIDS, UNITAD and the African Commission for Human and People’s Rights, urge governments to support the proposed temporary patent suspension.  Only a small group of WTO members, including the European Commission have chosen not to support the initiative, instead of joining the global solidarity movement calling for the waiver.  Yet, it should be clear that if populations are not protected, the longer the virus circulates among them, the higher the likelihood of more transmissible mutations will affect all countries, including those that oppose the proposed derogation increasing the complexity of control and prolonging the pandemic.

In the face of the the tragedy that has hit the world, it is imperative that all tools for prevention, tracing and monitoring, containment and treatment are available in a timely manner.  Opposing the proposal of India and South Africa to the WTO, in addition to being morally unsustainable, is simply wrong and means not seizing a unique opportunity to avoid a tragic repetition of the past.  The right to health for billions of people is at stake. We therefore ask the Italian Government to support India and South Africa’s proposal for the temporary suspension of patents and to fight for the European Commission to do the same.

The logic of profit cannot prevail over that of the life of human beings.

In addition to this initiative, which is of an urgent nature to address a specific situation, we point out the importance that our country and the European Union work for the creation of a European public company, for the development, production and distribution of medicinal drugs, vaccines and medical devices. We trust that your government will make the decision to implement this innovative choice.

Best regards