End Covid-19 monopolies. Support the Covid vaccine patent waiver!
Two years on from the start of the pandemic, the world’s poorest are still being denied access to tests, lifesaving treatment, and vaccines. People across the Global South are dying every day from Covid-19, a virus that we can only tackle by making access to vaccines, tests and treatments equitable and accessible.
Even though much of the research into Covid-19 vaccines and treatment is funded by taxpayers, vaccines have become the private property of big pharmaceutical companies who have made billions in profit from the pandemic.
The UK government has quietly dropped the refrain that ‘no one is safe until we are all safe’, but it’s still true. Rather than helping to end this global pandemic, the UK government has backed big business by blocking a crucial waiver of intellectual property rules. The waiver is a game-changing proposal at the World Trade Organisation, which would lift the patents on Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments, removing a huge barrier preventing poorer countries from protecting their people.
Take action! Call on the UK government to put people’s health before profit.
