More than 150 civil society organisations from around the world are pushing for a 'real' TRIPS waiver to be adopted by the time a World Trade Organisation conference wraps up on Thursday.
"Fix or reject."
This was the call on Wednesday from 150 global civil society organisations urging delegates gathered for the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva to scrap the current draft of the TRIPS waiver.
The wording of the draft TRIPS (Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights) waiver is seen as limiting, watered down and as "backsliding that could set a negative precedent for access to medicines and medical tools", the 150 civil organisations said in a letter to the WTO.
The group includes The People's Vaccine Alliance, SECTION27, Action Aid, Oxfam and Medecins Sans Frontieres, and are among protesters in the Swiss capital protesting against rich nations protecting the interests of big pharma and upholding corporate greed over saving the lives of the world's most vulnerable. It also wants a firmed-up agreement without further delay.
The civil society grouping said that by the end of the WTO conference on 16 June - extended by a day because of a lack of consensus - there...