[CTC] Groups call for waiver of WTO pharma rules

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Citizens Trade Campaign has joined hundreds of civil society groups around the globe in calling for a waiver of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules that grant pharmaceutical companies special monopoly rights when it comes to COVID-19 treatments and vaccines.  

We are urging the Trump administration and all WTO Members to support the specific proposal by the Indian and South African governments to allow such waivers of “Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights” so that the current COVID pandemic can be brought to an end as quickly as possible. 

Here’s the letter:
https://twn.my/announcement/signonletter/CSOLetter_SupportingWaiverFinal.pdf

And here are some additional resources about the issue broadly:

> —  Unitaid welcomes the proposal, https://unitaid.org/news-blog/unitaid-supports-call-for-intellectual-property-waivers-and-action-for-access-to-covid-19-products/#en
> 
> —  Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calls on all governments to support this proposal: https://msfaccess.org/landmark-move-india-and-south-africa-propose-no-patents-covid-19-medicines-tools-during-pandemic. (MSF briefing document on the proposal:  https://msfaccess.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/COVID_Brief_ProposalWTOWaiver_ENG_2020.pdf )
> 
> —  Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi): strongly supports the proposal and urges other countries to support it without delay, https://dndi.org/statements/2020/dndi-statement-india-south-africa-request-wto-waive-ip-rules-covid-19-health-tools/.  

Organizations interested in joining the letter can still do so at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0OrzAnExqy6FBDGvqIQ6qI1F-_O8zmj0tO8n4uCfWFo1nFQ/viewform

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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