BRUSSELS, 08 June 2021 - EPF has consistently worked for equitable access to healthcare across the globe including reproductive and maternal healthcare. In the context of a major global inequity in access to vaccines and medicines and a growing global death toll, parliamentarians from around Europe have called on the European Commission to support a temporary TRIPS waiver in a joint letter to European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová.
A temporary suspension of intellectual property rights to allow increased global production of vaccines has been proposed by over 60 countries at the WTO with the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO). This intellectual property includes patents and technological information in respect of manufacturing. The European Commission’s opposition remains one of the main obstacles to a TRIPS waiver.
The parliamentarians wrote: "We are particularly concerned given the evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy and the vulnerability of pregnant individuals in the Global South. Inadequate access to vaccination is also placing considerable strain on all other supports, including reproductive and sexual health supports, provided by frontline health services across the Global South."
"Moreover, when a huge portion of the world’s population remains vulnerable to COVID-19 this allows the virus to develop new variants which may, in turn, become vaccine-resistant. We believe the only way to truly tackle this global pandemic is through speedy and collective action."