Purpose

The purpose of this study is to contribute towards the debate about global access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

Design/methodology/approach

The global scramble for COVID-19 vaccine and other related pharmaceutical products have once again exposed the limitations of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). High-income countries are claiming a lion’s share of the first available batches of the COVID-19 vaccine in total disregard of the consequences such approach would have on the low-income countries that lack both the manufacturing wherewithal and the financial resources to purchase the vaccine and other products needed to combat the pandemic. This paper reviews the existing TRIPS Flexibilities and analyses their limitations with respect to equitable access of pharmaceutical products in times of health emergencies. This paper then considers the unique challenges that have been brought to the fore by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, this paper analytically explores some options that have been proposed so far that the World Trade Organization (WTO) or governments can take in the immediate to near term to facilitate equitable access to COVID-19 pharmaceutical products and technologies. This research is non-empirical, desk-based research. It is, therefore, based on the literature review of existing body of work that is relevant to the topic under discussion. Mindful of the epistemological challenges that are always associated with desk-based research, part of the methodology of this work is to seek support from related empirical studies based on different philosophical underpinnings but that confirm the working hypothesis of this research.

Findings

This paper finds that there is still a need for a comprehensive reform of TRIPS Agreement to streamline the voluntary licencing system which is an important tool for low-income countries’ access to affordable pharmaceuticals. However, for purposes of dealing with COVID-19, WTO members should consider establishing pooled Licencing Facilities and procurement strategies via already existing political, economic or regional trade groupings.

Originality/value

This research is original. All sources have been acknowledged. This research synthesises different research papers and applies different viewpoints to the debate on the impact of the TRIPS Agreement on equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

中文翻译：

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疫苗民族主义和公平获取 COVID-19 药物：正在试验的 TRIPS 协议（再次）

目的

这项研究的目的是为关于全球获取 COVID-19 疫苗、治疗方法和诊断方法的辩论做出贡献。

设计/方法/方法

全球对 COVID-19 疫苗和其他相关医药产品的争夺再次暴露了与贸易有关的知识产权协议（TRIPS）的局限性。高收入国家声称拥有首批可用的 COVID-19 疫苗的大部分份额，而完全无视这种方法会对缺乏制造资金和购买疫苗的财政资源的低收入国家造成的后果以及抗击大流行所需的其他产品。本文回顾了现有的 TRIPS 灵活性，并分析了它们在卫生紧急情况下公平获取药品方面的局限性。然后，本文考虑了 COVID-19 大流行带来的独特挑战。最后，本文分析探讨了迄今为止世界贸易组织 (WTO) 或各国政府可以在近期或近期内采取的一些选项，以促进公平获取 COVID-19 药品和技术。这项研究是非经验的、基于案头的研究。因此，它基于对与所讨论主题相关的现有工作的文献综述。考虑到总是与基于案头的研究相关的认识论挑战，这项工作的部分方法是寻求基于不同哲学基础的相关实证研究的支持，但这证实了本研究的工作假设。

发现

本文发现仍然需要对 TRIPS 协议进行全面改革，以简化自愿许可制度，这是低收入国家获得负担得起的药品的重要工具。但是，为了应对 COVID-19，世贸组织成员应考虑通过现有的政治、经济或区域贸易集团建立联合许可设施和采购战略。

原创性/价值

这项研究是原创的。所有消息来源均已确认。这项研究综合了不同的研究论文，并将不同的观点应用于关于 TRIPS 协议对公平获得 COVID-19 疫苗、治疗方法和诊断方法的影响的辩论。