{"id":168402,"date":"2022-02-13T09:40:03","date_gmt":"2022-02-13T04:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=168402"},"modified":"2022-02-12T23:14:17","modified_gmt":"2022-02-12T17:44:17","slug":"answered-what-do-you-understand-by-compulsory-licensing-under-the-trips-regime-do-you-think-that-a-trips-waiver-on-ip-rights-would%e2%80%afbe-able-to-ensure-vaccine-equity-and-plug-the-access-gap-f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-what-do-you-understand-by-compulsory-licensing-under-the-trips-regime-do-you-think-that-a-trips-waiver-on-ip-rights-would%e2%80%afbe-able-to-ensure-vaccine-equity-and-plug-the-access-gap-f\/","title":{"rendered":"[Answered] What do you understand by Compulsory Licensing under the TRIPS regime? Do you think that a TRIPS waiver on IP Rights would\u202fbe able to ensure vaccine equity and plug the access gap for COVID-19 vaccines?"},"content":{"rendered":"<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Introduction:<\/span><\/b> <span data-contrast=\"none\">Explain Compulsory licensing w.r.t. TRIPS agreement.<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Body:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">. Write how will compulsory licensing will help in achieving vaccine equity. Also provide the concerns related with compulsory licensing. Suggest some measures to mitigate those concerns.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Conclusion:<\/span><\/b> <span data-contrast=\"none\">Conclude explaining the need of vaccine equity.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">The <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> was negotiated in 1995 at the WTO, to guarantee minimum standards of IP protection and providing legal consistency that enables innovators to monetize their intellectual property in multiple countries.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Under the TRIPS agreement, the Governments can compel companies to license their patents to other manufacturers, (even if companied think the offered price is not acceptable) in case of a public health emergency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">There is widespread vaccine inequity in case of COVID-19 vaccines:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">As per the data from WHO by 25th December 2021, <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Just 3% of the almost 8 billion doses <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">given globally had been <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">administered in Africa<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> and <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">only around 8% of Africans were fully vaccinated<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">, compared with more than 60% in many high-income countries.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Big Pharmaceutical companies that have the patent for vaccines, have been <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">supplying vaccines to developed nations<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> and leaving the <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">populations of poor countries<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> in Africa, Asia and Latin America <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">majorly unprotected.<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">In this context <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">the waiver will allow generic manufacturers to override IPRs on vaccines<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> and make these available sufficiently across geographic locations at a much cheaper cost.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">However, there are some concerns related with Compulsory Licensing<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Pharmaceutical companies <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">invest a large amount of money<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> in developing Vaccines and <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">compelling them to license their vaccines<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> at lower prices would <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">hamper innovation in future<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">The vaccines are difficult to replicate<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> even with the patents shared<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">, the <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">know-how associated with manufacturing<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> may be the biggest challenge in facilitating mass manufacture of vaccines.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">India<\/span><\/b><b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> and South Africa<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\"> first proposed the waiver for COVID-19 vaccine in October 2020. However, this issue has been pending in WTO since then, as there is lack of agreement among members.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">It is important that other measure can be taken to ensure vaccine equity and plug the access gap for COVID-19 vaccines.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"\" data-listid=\"4\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Voluntary licensing<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">: Nudging pharmaceutical companies to go for voluntary licensing would create a win-win situation for everyone.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"\" data-listid=\"5\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">COVAX programme<\/span><\/b><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">COVAX is currently underfunded, countries could mobilize funds for the programme. It can help achieve vaccine equity by supplying vaccine to largely unvaccinated areas.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\u2022\" data-font=\"\" data-listid=\"5\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Patent pooling: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">A supranational patent pooling would alleviate the fears of companies of losing to each other. Thereby create a conducive environment for sharing of patents.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Achieving vaccine equity is paramount because <\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"none\">no one is safe from Covid-19 until everybody is safe<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">. Hence it is imperative to ensure vaccine equity and provide 100% coverage of COVID-19 vaccine.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction: Explain Compulsory licensing w.r.t. TRIPS agreement.\u00a0 Body:. Write how will compulsory licensing will help in achieving vaccine equity. Also provide the concerns related with compulsory licensing. Suggest some measures to mitigate those concerns. Conclusion: Conclude explaining the need of vaccine equity.\u00a0 The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) was negotiated in&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-what-do-you-understand-by-compulsory-licensing-under-the-trips-regime-do-you-think-that-a-trips-waiver-on-ip-rights-would%e2%80%afbe-able-to-ensure-vaccine-equity-and-plug-the-access-gap-f\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">[Answered] What do you understand by Compulsory Licensing under the TRIPS regime? Do you think that a TRIPS waiver on IP Rights would\u202fbe able to ensure vaccine equity and plug the access gap for COVID-19 vaccines?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,25,9],"tags":[10642],"class_list":["post-168402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mains-marathon","category-mains-marathon-answers","category-public","tag-trips-agreement","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704896521},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168402\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}