CSOs Demand Suspension of Intellectual Property Protection during COVID-19

More than 370 civil society organisations, including Madhyam, have urged the Members of the World Trade Organization to adopt the proposal titled, “Waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19” submitted by India and South Africa on October 2, 2020. The proposal allows member-countries to suspend certain intellectual property protection related to the prevention, containment, and treatment of COVID-19. The WTO’s TRIPS Council will meet on October 15-16 to discuss this proposal. Following is the full text of the statement issued by CSOs on October 15, 2020:
Dear Members of the World Trade Organization,
We the undersigned organisations…