Patent Rights and Intellectual Property Problems

In diesem Themenfeld ging es 2020 um die Forderung der großen Mehrheit aller Staaten der Welt, die Patente auf Corona-Impfstoffe wenigstens temporär auszusetzen, um die Produktion und Verbreitung von Impfstoff auch im Globalen Süden zu beschleunigen. Der Papst, die USA, Bill Gates und viele andere waren dafür, Deutschland, Sitz der Firma BioNTech, war einer der einflussreichsten Bremser dieser Forderung, denn nach dem Patent auf Impfstoffe könnte der Globale Süden ja vielleicht unter Verweis auf andere Pandemien oder die Klimakatastrophe die Aussetzung anderer Patente verlangen. Hier galt es also um jeden Preis einen Präzedenzfall zu verhindern, weshalb die notwendigen Mehrheiten innerhalb der WTO nicht zustandekamen.

Das Thema wird uns aber erhalten bleiben. Nachfolgend stehen die Erläuterungen zur Kampagne von 2020.

What is it about?

As vaccination programs against Covid-19 are rolled out in developed countries, it is increasingly obvious that wealthy countries secure most of the vaccines for their own population while little is left for poor countries.

Pope Francis said to the UN General Assembly on 26 September 2021: "If anyone should be given preference, let it be the poorest, the most vulnerable, those who so often experience discrimination because they have neither power nor economic resources."

Similarly, the incoming Secretary-General to the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warns on 16 February 2021 of “vaccine nationalism” and reiterated: “No one is safe until everyone is safe.”

It is the WTO where a simple and quick solution for all could be found. India and South Africa tabled a proposal pointing to the following: Article IX of the WTO provides for temporarily waive patent rights on information relevant to the production of vaccines in “exceptional circumstances” and, if consensus among the WTO member states cannot be found, the same article permits action under a three-quarter majority. Such a temporary waiver and adequate technical and financial support for adjusting production lines worldwide could lower the costs and increase the availability of vaccines enormously. Already, more than half of the WTO member states support this option.

Little surprising, the very states securing vaccines for their own population are those obstructing this approach. This needs to change, because the Covid-19 pandemic indeed is over only, when the virus is pushed back globally.

If you are interested in the discussion and relevant arguments of the ongoing debate, please consult this FactSheet.

If you want to assist us, please sign this Open Letter to the German Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel, and circulate it widely among your relatives and friends. Thank you!

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This is a joint initiative of the Jesuitenmission Deutschland, Jesuitenmission Österreich and the Medical Mission Institute Würzburg.