Intellectual Property Rights: Affordable Drugs Debate
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Baroness Sheehan
Main Page: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Sheehan's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Intellectual Property Rights: Affordable Drugs
Baroness Sheehan Excerpts(4 years ago)
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Lord Grimstone of Boscobel (Con)
The noble Lord makes an excellent point. There are flexibilities in the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement. WTO members can use these to ensure access. We actively encourage less-developed countries to look at this, because by taking advantage of these flexibilities they can bring real benefits to their citizens.
Baroness Sheehan (LD)
My Lords, history tells us that reliance on the good will of pharmaceutical companies is misplaced. For example, swathes of the world still lack access to HIV/AIDS medicines. Given that the development of Covid-19 vaccines is largely taxpayer-funded, will the Government back the WHO’s support for a temporary waiver to parts of the TRIPS Agreement?