Zurich - Thirty countries led by Costa
Rica and the World Health Organization launched an initiative on
Friday aimed at sharing vaccines, medicines and diagnostic tools
to tackle the global coronavirus pandemic.
Countries to sign up are South Africa, Argentina, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Mozambique, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, the Netherlands, East Timor and Uruguay, the WHO said.
While the developing nations' push, called the Covid-19
Technology Access Pool, was welcomed by groups including Doctors
Without Borders, a drug industry alliance questioned if it would
really boost collaboration or broaden access to Covid-19
medicines.
The WHO effort comes amid concerns rich countries pumping
resources into finding vaccines - more than 100 are in
development - will muscle their way to the front of the queue,
once a candidate succeeds.
Switzerland, home of big drugmakers Roche and
Novartis, has also raised fears of "vaccine
nationalism", saying it wants to ensure fair access.
"Vaccines, tests, diagnostics, treatments and other key
tools in the coronavirus response must be made universally
available as global public goods," Costa Rica President Carlos
Alvarado said, of the voluntary initiative.
The effort, originally proposed in March, aims to provide a
one-stop shop for scientific knowledge, data and intellectual
property amid a pandemic that has infected more than 5.8 million
people and killed some 360,000.
The WHO issued a "Solidarity Call to Action", asking other
stakeholders to join the push.
However, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers & Associations raised concerns about undermining
intellectual property protections, which the industry group said
enable collaboration and will be needed after the pandemic is
over, to prepare health systems for new challenges.
"By urging licences or non-enforcement declarations for
Covid-19 treatments and vaccines to be granted on a
non-exclusive global basis, the 'Solidarity Call to Action'
promotes a one-size-fits all model that disregards the specific
circumstances of each situation, each product and each country,"
the federation said.