Rich and poor nations lock horns over vaccine patents at WTO
Proposal is backed by dozens of largely developing countries but opposed by Western countries including Britain, Switzerland, EU nations and the US
10 March 2021 - 19:25
Geneva — A push to increase production of Covid-19 vaccines for poor nations hung in the balance at the World Trade Organization on Wednesday amid disagreement between richer and developing countries over the issue of patent rights.
SA and India planned to renew their bid at a two-day meeting to waive rules of the WTO’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) agreement, a move that would allow generic or other manufacturers to make more vaccines...
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