Hi John,
The fastest way to end this pandemic is to ensure everyone everywhere has access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatments. But global trade rules impose powerful monopoly rights for big pharma. This artificially restricts supply and sustains high medicine prices allowing big pharma to profit and sell to the highest bidder.
Under this system, countries with the most money will get Covid-19 vaccines and treatments first, leaving countries in the global south without. This is bad enough during normal times but during a global pandemic, this is simply unacceptable.
The governments of India and South Africa have put a proposal on the table of the World Trade Organisation to suspend the global trade rules that prop up big pharma monopolies. The suspension would last until widespread vaccination is in place globally.
Suspending these unjust rules would be a massive game-changer - it would break up big pharma monopolies on Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, allowing as many suppliers as possible to maximise global supply. This will enable lower income countries to access affordable vaccines and treatments to tackle Covid-19.
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These global trade rules have long been a problem for patient access to essential life saving treatments - from the HIV crisis in the 1990s through to extortionate pricing of cancer medicines today.
This proposal cuts to the heart of the problem and exposes how corporate profit has been prioritised over public health for too long. But the proposal needs backing from all member countries of the World Trade Organisation.
We are now working with our allies from around the world to build global support for this proposal. Each country will have to decide if they want to defend public health or if they want to defend corporate monopolies - but they can’t have both.
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The WTO will be meeting next Thursday and Friday to discuss this proposal for the first time. Help us to build public pressure to get the UK government to support it.
Thank you for your support
Heidi Chow
Campaigner at Global Justice Now
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The US-UK trade deal could give corporations everything they want. Help us stop it.
We are campaigning to stop the toxic US trade deal which is likely to lower food standards, weaken chemical regulation, increase medicine prices and block climate action.
Regular gifts give us the long-term stability to plan effective campaigns for a more just world. And they will help further the campaign to stop this toxic trade deal.
If you’re not already a member, will you join today?
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