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 South Africa and India renewed their bid to waive rules of the WTO's
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) agreement, a
move that could allow generic or other manufacturers to make more
vaccines.
South Africa argued the current TRIPS system does not work, pointing
to the failure to secure life-saving medicines during the HIV/AIDS
pandemic that had cost at least 11 million African lives.
Medecins Sans Frontieres in October put together a letter signed by
over 375 civil society organisations supporting the waiver.
The South Africa and India proposal was backed by dozens of largely
developing countries at the WTO, but opposed by Western countries,
including Britain, Switzerland, EU nations and the United States,
which have large domestic pharmaceutical industries.
India is a major manufacturer of generics, although many of the
largest generic companies are based in Western and developed
countries, including Viatris, Sandoz and Teva.
Western nations argue protecting intellectual property rights
encouraged research and innovation and that suspending those rights
would not result in a sudden surge of vaccine supply.
In its eighth discussion on the topic since it was first raised in
October, the WTO's TRIPS Council spent three hours debating, but
failed to agree. Proposals need backing by a consensus of the WTO's
164 members to pass.
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 They did at least agree to
discuss the matter twice again in April before
the next scheduled TRIPS Council meeting on June
8-9. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who
became WTO director-general on March 1, called the intensifying
TRIPS discussions "vitally important," but said governments and
businesses needed to act now to increase production, especially in
emerging markets.
She said in a speech on Tuesday that manufacturers should come
together with bodies such as the World Health Organization and
vaccines alliance GAVI, whose board she used to chair, and business
associations to look into options.
"We must make sure that in the end we deliver so that the millions
of people who are waiting for us with bated breath know that we are
working on concrete solutions," the former Nigerian finance and
foreign minister said.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Editing by William Maclean and
Aurora Ellis)
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