115 MPs of European Parliament back India's Covid vaccine proposal at WTO

Goyal says India's proposal getting widespread support

India's proposal at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to waive provisions of Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has drawn support from 115 members of European Parliament.

Earlier, European Commission and European Council had opposed the proposal. In a declaration, these members said that they urge the European Commission and the European Council to review their stand.

Earlier in the day, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had said that India’s proposal at the WTO is getting support from other nations.

India along with South Africa had introduced a proposal in October 2020 for waiving the intellectual property rights regime so that more countries get equitable access to medicines, Goyal said at the International Conference on Pharmaceuticals and Medical organised by industry body FICCI.

“We now have 57 WTO members supporting us. We have many African countries already on board. The developed world is under pressure because on one hand, they talk about supporting each other and multilateral fight against Covid pandemic, but on the other hand, they're looking at protecting the interests of a few companies only in terms of innovation costs or R&D,” Goyal said.

The world is fighting a pandemic which could potentially cost $9 trillion to the global economy, and many sectors such as tourism, travel and hospitality have collapsed, Goyal said.
 

India has seen a golden period for health care in the last few years, and the industry should strive to make the next ten years “the decade of India” where the entire world should be following Indian standards, Goyal said.

Between 2021 to 2030, the entire world should be driven by Indian quality standards, regulatory processes, and manufacturing practices, he said. The industry should take it upon itself as a mission that this is going to be the defining decade, both for the pharma industry, and for the country, Goyal said.
 

Goyal said the world today needs CURE that will come out of Cost-effective Universal solutions through Research and Enterprise. “If we take it upon ourselves that India is going to cure the world, I see no limitations in our ability to aspire to become a world dominant leader in the field of medtech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and health care providers,” he said

The country would always be indebted to the Indian pharma industry, often called the pharmacy of the world, for its contribution through the Covid-19 pandemic, Goyal said.

The three V's that the pharma industry has provided to the world, and India-ventilators, vaccines, and the V-shaped recovery in India’s economy, are reflective of the industry’s strength.

Pharma industry has relatively been insulated during the Covid pandemic, and “I'm sure the industry will show a big heart across the world, support the TRIPS waiver that India has proposed at the WTO, so that the entire world can come out of the Covid pandemic much faster, and bring back the V-shaped recovery to the entire world,” he said.