MANILA, Philippines — Public health advocates called on the Philippines to support the proposal to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines as the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement, the Coalition for People’s Right to Health urged the government to unconditionally support the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver, a proposal that seeks to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 technologies that prevent, treat and contain the pandemic.
CPRH said the Philippines—which is dependent on foreign vaccines for its massive inoculation drive—remains “remarkably silent” on the issue.
“Vaccine czar [Carlito] Galvez has repeatedly echoed the rhetoric of richer countries racking up most of the global supply, but with little to no discourse on questioning why that is, which the TRIPS waiver essentially dares to answer,” CPRH said.
It said the lack of publicly-owned infrastructure and capacity to produce vaccines in the country muddles argument for compulsory licensing “but a TRIPS exemption may be a first step to incentivizing or revitalizing national industrialization, apart from widening access through decentralized negotiations.”
The group stressed it is high time for the country to break its silence and stand with nations demanding vaccine equity.
“As disease and inequity spread even more rampantly in our country, we cannot afford to be idly silent. Advancing the right to health amid a pandemic entails asserting people over profit and people over patents in Geneva, Manila, and in every community,” it said.
Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women’s Party) filed a resolution urging the Philippine to sign the TRIPS waiver
The United States recently agreed to support the waiver after initially resisting the proposal along with other wealthy nations. The TRIPS Council of the World Trade Organization will reconvene next week to discuss the proposal.
The Philippines, which is grappling with one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Southeast Asia, has been criticized for the slow pace of its vaccination campaign.
Since the program began in March, only 1.2 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Meanwhile, 3.9 million have received one of the two doses.