Brook Baker
People’s Vaccine Campaign Policy Brief
April 2021 | Link
This Policy Brief from the People’s Vaccine Campaign, written by Prof. Brook K. Baker, is highly relevant to the discussions of the India/South Africa TRIPS waiver proposal at the WTO. The Policy Brief distinguishes between (1) industry controlled efforts to manage the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines and other health technologies that results in the inevitable consequence of inadequate supply, needlessly high prices, and grossly inequitable distribution and (2) government-led efforts to free additional qualified manufacturers from intellectual property and technology transfer barriers that stand in the way of building near-term and sustainable biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in underserved developing country regions around the world.
Summary
A growing chorus of voices worldwide is demanding the lifting of intellectual property restrictions on Covid-19 vaccines and technologies and open technology transfer to enable global access. In response the pharmaceutical industry, the WTO and other actors like the Gates Foundation are promoting a ‘third way’ where industry retains total control of supply, price and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and other health technologies. This is in fact nothing new and is a continuation of the same failed system. This paper gives a clear critique of this proposed solution, and the urgent need to take back control over vaccine production and distribution. It outlines the arguments instead for government-led, open technology transfer and equitable access.
