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Does your government support measures to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines and medical tools for all?

06 May 21
This article is more than one year old

Does your government support measures to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines and medical tools for all?

Life-saving COVID-19 vaccines, tools and technologies must reach everyone, everywhere. Caption
Life-saving COVID-19 vaccines, tools and technologies must reach everyone, everywhere.
Governments are taking a stand and supporting the TRIPS waiver. No patents profiteering in a pandemic. Caption
Governments are taking a stand and supporting the TRIPS waiver. No patents profiteering in a pandemic.

While vaccination programmes race ahead in wealthy countries such as the UK, many of the places where Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) works are being left behind – with limited access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, tests, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

MSF has been calling on governments to support a proposal put forward by India and South Africa to temporarily waive intellectual property protections on these COVID-19 medical technologies.

Sadly, despite MSF and many others calling on the UK Government to support this measure – known as the ‘TRIPS waiver’ – they continue to block it. With more than 100 countries backing the waiver, the UK is looking increasingly isolated as it continues to drag its feet.

Where does your country stand?

This map is live, when countries show their support we'll add them straight away.

The UK Government’s opposition to this proposal is shameful. As the majority of the world has acknowledged, these extraordinary circumstances require unprecedented action. The UK must put people’s health before pharmaceutical profits and waive IP on all COVID-19 medical tools, including vaccines.

Vickie Hawkins
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Executive Director of MSF-UK

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