Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

Worldwide, 10’000 people die every day from Covid.

While wealthy, affluent countries have access to Covid treatments, vaccines and diagnostics, the majority of the world’s population living in low- and middle-income countries have little access to these.

This is because intellectual property, including patents, protect the profits of pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceutical companies and rich country governments, including Switzerland and the European Union, are opposing the waiving of these rights within the WTO WTO
World Trade Organisation The WTO, founded on 1^st January 1995, replaced the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT). The main innovation is that the WTO enjoys the status of an international organization. Its role is to ensure that no member States adopt any kind of protectionism whatsoever, in order to accelerate the liberalization global trading and to facilitate the strategies of the multinationals. It has an international court (the Dispute Settlement Body) which judges any alleged violations of its founding text drawn up in Marrakesh.

framework.

On the occasion of the WTO Ministerial Conference, which opens in Geneva on November 30^th, let’s mobilize for the lifting of intellectual property, in order to offer universal and immediate access to health.

Join us on November 30^th for a candlelight demonstration that will take us from Place Lise-Girardin to Place des Nations.

SUPPORTED BY:

• Amnesty international Suisse
• Association for Proper Internet Governance (Switzerland)
• Association pour l’aide médicale en Amérique centrale (AMCA)
• Attac Austria & Norway
• Centrale Sanitaire Suisse Romande (CSSR)
• Centre Europe – Tiers Monde (CETIM)
• CGAS
• Collectif brevets sur les vaccins. Stop ! Réquisition (France)
• Comité pour l’Abolition des dettes Illégitimes (CADTM)
• Coordination Nationale des Comités de défense des hôpitaux et maternités de proximité (France)
• Forum per il diritto alla salute (Milano)
• Gen-ethisches Netzwerk e.V. (Germany)
• Health Global Access Project
• Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences
• ISDE Italia (Associazione Medici per l’Ambiente)
• Marche mondiale des femmes
• Medico International Schweiz
• mediCuba-Suisse
• No Profit Profit The positive gain yielded from a company’s activity. Net profit is profit after tax. Distributable profit is the part of the net profit which can be distributed to the shareholders. on Pandemic
• Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS)
• People s Health Movement
• Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation
• Public services international
• SIT
• Society for International Development (SID)
• UNIA
• Viva Salud

Flyer:

SIGN THE GENEVA APPEAL
LIFT THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ON ANTI-COVID VACCINES, TESTS AND TREATMENTS, NOW!

Big Pharma has held the populations of low- and middle-income countries hostage by reserving their supplies of vaccines, at high prices, for the most profitable countries. The lack of immediate universal access to vaccines, treatments, tests and other technologies could result in hundreds of thousands of deaths and the emergence of more contagious variants. Since October 2, 2020, the day when the countries of the South, led by South Africa and India, requested the lifting of intellectual property on anti-COVID vaccines, test and treatments etc at the WTO, which was refused by the European Union and Switzerland in particular, an average of 10,119 people per day have died of this disease! As the WTO Ministerial Conference meets from November 30 to December 3 in Geneva, let’s mobilize to shout our disagreement with this medical « apartheid » policy and to demand the lifting of intellectual property rights on COVID vaccines, treatments and diagnostics!

The vaccines were developed with public funds. While they are massively distributed in rich countries, their sale benefits today only the big shareholders of Big Pharma, who see their dividends explode. In contrast to this logic, the lifting of intellectual property rights would allow much wider access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics and would save hundreds of thousands of human lives. A remarkable study by the American consumer organization Public Citizen, in conjunction with researchers at Oxford University, shows that by lifting patents, undisclosed information protection and technology transfer, we can vaccinate the world and eradicate the pandemic.

Lifting intellectual property: a cost-effective solution for millions of lives saved

Using the same planning tools that the pharmaceutical industry uses to prepare its industrial site projects, the study makes a compelling case for how the global community could establish regional centers capable of producing eight billion doses of vaccine by May 2022. This would allow 80% of the population to be vaccinated at a cost of $9.4 billion, equivalent to the annual budget of the State of Geneva… a paltry cost considering the hundreds of thousands of lives that could be saved. This figure is even more telling when compared to the tens of billions of government subsidies received by the pharmaceutical trusts to develop vaccines… Do we really want these public investments to only allow the populations of rich countries to be vaccinated at the risk of never getting rid of Covid-19 while allowing a few privileged people to amass colossal fortunes?

Let’s mobilize for the life of all, against the profits of a few

The fight against Covid-19, but also against all other diseases and medical problems, must be led on a planetary scale by suspending the logic of profit maximization. The production of means of prevention, vaccines, medicines, etc., but also the care Care Le concept de « care work » (travail de soin) fait référence à un ensemble de pratiques matérielles et psychologiques destinées à apporter une réponse concrète aux besoins des autres et d’une communauté (dont des écosystèmes). On préfère le concept de care à celui de travail « domestique » ou de « reproduction » car il intègre les dimensions émotionnelles et psychologiques (charge mentale, affection, soutien), et il ne se limite pas aux aspects « privés » et gratuit en englobant également les activités rémunérées nécessaires à la reproduction de la vie humaine. of the sick cannot depend on their solvency. Public control of research, of the pharmaceutical industry and of the hospital sector, as well as the development of a quality and free public health service, is therefore more than ever indispensable. In this respect, the example of Cuba, with the development of its public vaccine and its international solidarity in the field of health, shows the way. As the WTO Ministerial Conference meets from November 30 to December 3 in Geneva, let us mobilize to shout our disagreement with this « medical apartheid » policy and to demand the lifting of intellectual property rights on vaccines, treatments and all other medical products, which is necessary to curb Covid-19! This is essential to ensure the right to health for all.

Everywhere, citizens, associations, unions, elected officials… let’s seize these Days of Shame to demonstrate in favor of universal and effective access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics that must be considered as common goods Common goods In economics, common goods are characterized by being collectively owned, as opposed to either privately or publicly owned. In philosophy, the term denotes what is shared by the members of one community, whether a town or indeed all humanity, from a juridical, political or moral standpoint. . Maintaining intellectual property rights is criminal! Let’s support the countries of the South by demanding together that they be lifted without further delay! Let’s meet on November 30^th at 5:30 pm in Geneva, Place Lise-Girardin, for a big candlelight demonstration.

To sign the appeal, click here: https://nov30noprofitoncovid.com/english/