Rich nations block proposal to help poorer countries get vaccines faster
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2022
SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
Rich nations block proposal to help poorer countries get vaccines faster

World+Biz

TBS Report
10 March, 2021, 02:40 pm
Last modified: 10 March, 2021, 07:48 pm

Related News

  • Dhaka to be neutral over Russia’s communication to WTO against West’s sanctions
  • WTO meeting on Covid vaccine rights waiver went 'very well' -chair
  • WTO chief warns against retreat from global trade
  • Russia to update its strategy in World Trade Organization amid sanctions, says Putin
  • IMF, World Bank, WFP and WTO urge coordinated action on food security

Rich nations block proposal to help poorer countries get vaccines faster

The majority of developing countries have been unable to administer a single dose of a Covid-19 vaccine while rich nations have vaccinated their citizens at a rate of one person per second over the last month

TBS Report
10 March, 2021, 02:40 pm
Last modified: 10 March, 2021, 07:48 pm
File photo of vaccination/Bloomberg
File photo of vaccination/Bloomberg

Rich nations – including the United States, United Kingdom and European Union countries – are blocking a proposal at the World Trade Organization (WTO) that seeks to help poorer countries get vaccines faster.

According to a press release by Oxfam, over 100 developing countries proposed to override the monopolies held by pharmaceutical companies and allow an urgently needed scale-up in the production of safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines to ensure poorer countries get access to the doses they desperately need.

The People's Vaccine Alliance – a group of campaigning organisations including Oxfam, Frontline AIDS, UNAIDS, Global Justice Now, and the Yunus Centre – warned that the majority of developing countries have been unable to administer a single dose of a Covid-19 vaccine while rich nations have vaccinated their citizens at a rate of one person per second over the last month.

However, on 10-11 March, more than 100 developing countries – led by South Africa and India – will again make the case at the WTO for a waiver of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), which would remove legal barriers for more countries and manufacturers to produce the vaccines, protect their people and join the economic recovery ahead, said the press release.

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, one of the leaders of the People's Vaccine Alliance said, "For the rich world, this proposed act of human solidarity to ensure that medicines and vaccines get to the whole human family simultaneously is in their self-interest, not just an act of charity."

"We should act now. There is no going back. It is unfair that rich countries, who have enough vaccines to protect their citizens, are blocking the TRIPS waiver, which could help poorer countries get the vaccines they need," he added.

According to the Oxfam press release, only 3% of people in poor countries can hope to be vaccinated by mid-year, and only one fifth at best by the end of 2021.

Almost one million people worldwide have signed a call by the People's Vaccine Alliance for rich nations to stop protecting big pharma monopolies and profits over people's lives. On 11 March, protests will take place outside pharmaceutical headquarters as part of a global day of action by activists across the world.

Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International, said, "By allowing a small group of pharmaceutical companies to decide who lives and who dies, rich nations are prolonging this unprecedented global health emergency and putting countless more lives on the line. At this crucial time. Developing countries need support – not opposition."

"Around the world, two-and-a-half million lives have already been lost due to this brutal disease and many countries are battling without adequate medical care and vaccines," she added.

The Alliance said that history is in danger of repeating itself in South Africa, Malawi and other African nations. Millions of people died in the early 2000s because pharmaceutical monopolies had priced successful treatments for HIV/AIDS out of reach at up to $10,000 a year.

According to the press release, all the leading vaccine developers have benefited from billions of dollars in public subsidies, yet pharmaceutical corporations have been handed the monopoly rights to produce and profit from them.

"At the same time, qualified vaccine producers all over the world stand ready to produce more vaccines if they were allowed access to the technology and know-how now being held under lock and key by these companies. New capacity could be brought on stream within months," said Oxfam.

Suhaib Siddiqi, former director of chemistry at Moderna, producer of one of the first approved vaccines, said that with the blueprint and technical advice, a modern factory should be able to produce vaccines in at most three to four months.

So far, France has called for the expansion of production in developing countries, and the US has moved to achieve the same domestically. But both countries continue to defend the monopolies of pharma corporations.

Coronavirus chronicle / Top News

WTO / Covid-19 vaccines

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Project delays: The Sinohydro style 
    Project delays: The Sinohydro style 
  • Photo: TBS
    37,000 BO account holders sell all shares in 11 days
  • Photo: Reuters
    Monkeypox: Govt puts ports on alert 

MOST VIEWED

  • Johnny Depp. Photo: Collected
    Legal Lookahead: Johnny Depp trial ends, Bill Cosby case begins
  • People wearing protective face masks walk on a street, following new cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), in Shanghai, China August 25, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song
    Shanghai district to require all shops to shut, residents to stay home
  • A section of skin tissue, harvested from a lesion on the skin of a monkey, that had been infected with monkeypox virus, is seen at 50X magnification on day four of rash development in 1968. CDC/Handout via REUTERS
    WHO working on more monkeypox guidance as cases rise - senior adviser
  • US President Joe Biden talks virtually with service members, from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building's South Court Auditorium at the White House, during an event with first lady Jill Biden, in Washington, US, December 25, 2021. Photo :Reuters
    Biden says first shipments of baby formula flying in from Europe this weekend
  • HSBC CEO Noel Quinn attends the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 3, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
    HSBC banker's remarks on climate risk inconsistent with strategy, CEO says
  • At present total central levies including Rs 8 per litre additional excise duty on petrol and diesel are Rs 22.98 per litre and Rs 18.83 a litre/ Mint Photo
    India cuts excise duty on petrol, diesel; prices to drop by ₹9.5, ₹7 per litre

Related News

  • Dhaka to be neutral over Russia’s communication to WTO against West’s sanctions
  • WTO meeting on Covid vaccine rights waiver went 'very well' -chair
  • WTO chief warns against retreat from global trade
  • Russia to update its strategy in World Trade Organization amid sanctions, says Putin
  • IMF, World Bank, WFP and WTO urge coordinated action on food security

Features

The Buffalo shooter targeted Black people, linking mass migration with environmental degradation and other eco-fascist ideas. Photo: Reuters

Eco-fascism: The greenwashing of the far right

17h | Panorama
Green-backed Heron on a tilting stalk. Photo: Enam Ul Haque

Green-backed Heron: Nothing but a prayer to catch a fish  

19h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

‘High logistics cost weakens Bangladesh’s competitiveness’

21h | Panorama
Every morning is a new beginning for all

Seashore

22h | In Focus

More Videos from TBS

Wheat prices double in India

Wheat prices double in India

11h | Videos
Is Washington-Moscow agreement possible?

Is Washington-Moscow agreement possible?

11h | Videos
Pigeon exhibition for the first time in Gazipur

Pigeon exhibition for the first time in Gazipur

16h | Videos
Photo: TBS

US Congress to hold first public UFO panel

18h | Videos

Most Read

1
Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge
Bangladesh

Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge

2
A packet of US five-dollar bills is inspected at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
Banking

Dollar hits Tk100 mark in open market

3
The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter
Industry

The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter

4
PK Halder: How a scamster rose from humble beginnings to a Tk11,000cr empire
Crime

PK Halder: How a scamster rose from humble beginnings to a Tk11,000cr empire

5
BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies
Stocks

BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies

6
The reception is a volumetric box-shaped room that has two glass walls on both the front and back ends and the other two walls are adorned with interior plants, wood and aluminium screens. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Habitat

The United House: Living and working inside nature

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab