Global South countries tell the WTO: we must suspend trade rules on patents if we’re to deal with #COVID19. Rich countries reply: ‘no, no, you’ll be totally fine, don’t worry’. (1/7) keionline.org/34235
Britain – which has tried to undermine schemes to allow #Covid19 medicines for all – tells poorer countries that they are being ‘extreme’ in wanting to suspend patent monopolies. (2/7) gov.uk/government/new…
Britain says: ‘don’t worry we have global schemes to promote medicines for all’. India rightly replies, hang on a minute: rich countries have tried to weaken those schemes to the point that not a single Big Pharma company is participating. (3/7)
In fact, Britain has bilaterally bought up as many potential vaccines as they can get their hands on. And wealthy nations representing 13% of the world’s population have more than half of the promised doses of leading #COVID-19 vaccine candidates. (4/7)
Britain says: ‘you can already override patents if you need to’. South Africa rightly replies: ‘hang on a minute, the rich world and your TNCs bully the South whenever we try to do that’. Like you did a few months ago.... (5/7)
Britain says: ‘we need patents to incentivise innovation’. India rightly replies: ‘ Are you serious? The incentives come from the billions of dollars of *public* money flowing into the coffers of Big corporations.
We stand with the South. Their proposals are a game-changer. Never again can millions die while we have the medicines to treat them, simply because TNCs can charge whatever they like for drugs the public has already subsidised. aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/…
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As Blackrock announce an 18% increase in 2020 revenue, and $7.8 *trillion* in assets, we release figures on how Blackrock and fellow banks are profiting from the #COVID19 debt crisis in Africa and beyond. #CancelTheDebt (1/9) globaljustice.org.uk/news/2020/oct/…
Today the G20 will extend debt relief in 2021, but this isn’t proper cancellation AND doesn’t include big banks who are raking it in. Lower income countries will pay $13 billion to rich investors by end 2020 (2/9) in.reuters.com/article/imf-wo…
This includes the richest banks and funds on the planet: Blackrock, HSBC, Goldman. Blackrock alone – with assets worth two and half times more than the GDP of all of #Africa - hold US$1 billion of bond debt in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia. (3/9)
Today Jeremy Corbyn promised to bring medical research into common ownership at #LabourConference2019. This is a huge campaign victory, and a huge challenge to the power of Big Pharma. Here’s what it means: (1/9) #Lab19
At the moment, medicines are produced by a monopoly of giant corporations for super profits. They cost our #NHS over £18bn last year - an increase of 4.6% from the previous year - and means it can’t afford some new medicines. People are dying, the NHS is being undermined. (2/9)
Luis Walker featured in Corbyn’s leaders’ speech is an 8-year old boy with cystic fibrosis. There’s a drug, Orkambi, that could alleviate his symptoms and slow the disease, potentially adding years to his life. But it’s too expensive for the NHS (£105,000!) (3/9)