Add your voice
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is urging the Australian government to back a landmark proposal that would prevent patents and monopolies from limiting production and affordable access for COVID-19 vaccines, drugs and diagnostics – but we need your support.
Many of the COVID-19 vaccines and treatments currently being developed have been supported with public funding for research. Despite this, pharmaceutical companies are now seeking to patent and restrict the availability of vaccines and treatments to control price and production, putting profits ahead of people.
In a ground-breaking move, India and South Africa are legally challenging the status quo and asking all countries to join them in seeking a temporary waiver to suspend ALL patents on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments until global herd immunity is reached.
The Australian government says they don’t believe that patents stop access to vaccines and that vaccines paid for by rich countries will be enough to cover global needs. However as a medical humanitarian organisation, MSF has seen how people in low-income countries so often get left behind, and during this pandemic are unlikely to have speedy access to safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines. In fact, wealthy countries including Australia, representing only 13% of the global population, have already locked up at least half of the doses of the world’s five leading potential vaccines.
It’s time for Australia to show true global solidarity and join the 100+ countries supporting the waiver that puts human lives over corporate profits at this critical moment for global health. The clock is ticking because the temporary waiver will be discussed at the World Trade Organization’s General Council meeting on 17 December.
Add your voice by emailing Health Minister Greg Hunt, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne.
Click on the button below to prefill an email – you can edit to include why you personally support this initiative.