France's Macron has in the past few weeks expressed support for COVID patent waivers: france24.com/en/france/2021…
Then opposed them: theguardian.com/world/2021/may…
Then supported them again: amp.france24.com/en/france/2021…
Now he wants to wait till October to decide: mediapart.fr/journal/intern…
Macron’s skepticism of the #TRIPSwaiver seems in part rooted in an outdated view of the developing world’s capacities. He says that even if intellectual property rules are waived, manufacturers in places like Africa currently are not equipped to make vaccines.
He's wrong.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control has already identified vaccine manufacturing capacity in Senegal, South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia.
apnews.com/article/africa…
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has expressed interest in bringing the first mRNA manufacturing facility to Africa.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The World Health Organization has plans in place for a Covid-19 Technology Access Pool & a series of mRNA technology transfer hubs to share vaccine technology. The WHO warns that technology used in the hub must be free of intellectual property constraints. who.int/news-room/arti…
Rather than making up excuses for France to say no, Macron should throw the country's weight behind these proposals and find ways to make sure pharmaceutical companies participate too.
For a year, President Macron has been proclaiming that vaccines should be a “global public good.” And he is completely right.
But France has still not concretely translated those words into action.
Read more: hrw.org/news/2021/05/2…
#PeoplesVaccine
#TRIPSwaiver
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