Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, following the World Health Assembly and pre-launch of the World Health Organisation (WHO) COVID-19 Intellectual Property Pool, whether the Government plans to support the WHO to establish an effective global pool of rights for Covid-19 health technologies.

The UK believes that a robust and fair intellectual property system is a key part of the innovation framework that allows economies to grow, while enabling society to benefit from knowledge and ideas. We have long supported affordable and equitable access to essential medicines, including in low and middle-income countries. We are committed to collaborating with public and private partners in the UK and internationally. This includes exploring voluntary arrangements and approaches that promote affordable access for all while also providing incentives to create new inventions, to accelerate development and equitable access in all countries and to ensure affordable health technologies for responding to COVID-19. There are a number of existing mechanisms that facilitate pooling and sharing intellectual property that could be expanded to cover COVID-19, such as the Medicines Patent Pool, which have the potential to provide a more efficient way forward than creating new mechanisms.