WHO supports TRIPS waiver, not time to 'worry about patents, profits' says Chief Scientist

World Health Organization (WHO) top scientist Soumya Swaminathan, on Monday, supported India and South Africa's proposal of waiving Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to COVID-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). She also said that the global health body strongly recommends this as it is not the time to worry about profits. Currently, several countries of the world including India are struggling with a deadly spread of COVID-19 variants.

She mentioned that WHO director-general Dr. Tedros has also spoken in support of the matter. 

"WHO strongly believes that the TRIPS waiver that has been proposed by India and South Africa should be done. DG Tedros has often spoken about this. This is not the time to worry about patents and profits amid the pandemic," added WHO Chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan. 

India, South Africa, and 57 members of WTO had made the proposal of waiver of certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement earlier in October 2020 to fight the battle of COVID-19. 

Vaccines not easy to manufacture

Further speaking on the matter, the scientist added that this has to be done as soon as possible. However, trade experts suggest that WTO negotiations for the proposal could take months given that they overcome some member countries' important opposition. Soumya Swaminathan also explained how difficult it will get if the patent is not implemented for any company.

She also remarked that the process of manufacturing vaccines is not easy. 

"So yes, we would like to see that happening very quickly at the WTO that needs to be also accompanied by a technology transfer because vaccines are complex things to manufacture and it will take a long time for a company to learn from scratch if a patent is not implemented," said Soumya Swaminathan.

'Vaccination most important'

Health experts, doctors, and scientists like Swaminathan have been stressing upon vaccination to win the fight against COVID-19. A global vaccination program needs to be conducted at a massive level as advised by experts. To ensure the campaign, enhanced production of effective tools and technologies at an international level of coordination will be required. This will also help every country to have access to vaccines.

The scientist also suggested that there is no need of waiting for the official waiver as an exact timeline cannot be predicted at this moment due to the negotiations. The technology transfer has to be started in a voluntary way, added Swaminathan. The basic goal for the global health sector is to make sure that if any expert company wants to share details of vaccines there should not be anything to stop them. 

She lastly opined that the equal distribution of vaccines should happen in the second half of the year as currently there is a huge demand and short supply. According to the top scientist., vaccines should be prioritized for health workers and those in severe conditions, for now. 

(Inputs from ANI) (Image: ANI)