« Defending the right to health of all the inhabitants of the Earth

Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth

We reproduce below the Declaration drafted by the Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth following the rejection, by dominant groups of the rich countries, of the request of South Africa, India and Kenya, supported by dozens of countries of the South, to temporarily suspend the application of patents on anti-Covid-19 drugs (including vaccines). For months, Kairos has been publishing articles exposing the incestuous collusion between the Bill Gates Foundation, political leaders and Big Pharma⁽¹⁾. On October 22, on our site, we provided even more details on the financial arrangements that, for years, have been preparing the gigantic profits that a few multinationals will be able to reap thanks to the inevitable epidemics: « The race for billions of Covid-19⁽²⁾ « . Alas, our fears have proven to be true; despite appeals to the UN⁽³⁾, once again, priority has been given to trade, to the detriment of the health and lives of millions of people⁽⁴⁾

Defending the right to health of all the inhabitants of the Earth

Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth

The Facts

The world finds itself in the same situation as in December 2002 when the rich countries, led by the United States and Europe, refused to give up patents on AIDS vaccines, provoking a new and profound social divide between the countries of the « North » and those of the « South », in particular the African countries, the main victims of AIDS.⁽⁵⁾.

On October 16, 2020, the United States, the EU, Norway, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Australia… rejected, within the framework of the WTO (World Trade Organization), the request submitted by South Africa, India and other countries of the « South », supported also by the WHO (World Health Organization), to temporarily suspend the application of the rules of the TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Treaties (in English TRIPs) The world’s leading pharmaceutical companies holding patents on life forms all come from countries that voted against the suspension⁽⁶⁾.

Two immediate observations:

• The close link between the global pharmaceutical companies and the states that voted against it clearly shows that the governments of these countries have above all defended the economic interests of private companies and acted knowingly against the human right to health of all the inhabitants of the Earth, in equality, dignity and justice;
• The WTO is an international organization of the Bretton Woods family of institutions (of which the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are part), competent in the field of international trade. On the other hand, the World Health Organization, an integral part of the United Nations, is the competent international agency for global health policy. The October 16 decision confirmed that the WTO has greater decision-making powers than the WHO, even in the area of health. Worse, the health of people in rich countries is worth more than the health of impoverished populations, because it pays better financially.

Double aberration. Why?

As we know, patents on life were authorized for the first time in history by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1990 and then by the European Union in 1998, in spite of strong opposition throughout the world from a very large number of civil society associations in revolt against the commodification and privatization of life. Patents grant private companies the right to exclusive ownership and use of living organisms (molecules, cells, genes… and their products, such as drugs, vaccines…) for 20 years. This predatory monopolization of life that the public authorities have offered to private capital in the name of science is aberrant! The history of the last 30 years shows that patents have been and remain the key instrument for the financial enrichment of pharmaceutical companies, the privatization of health systems and the consequent dismantling of public social security and the right to health. In this context, it is not surprising that social inequalities in health coverage between rich and poor countries and between social classes have only increased⁽⁷⁾. The Covid-19 pandemic confirms that the policies implemented to date have not prevented the worsening of inequalities at all levels.

Certainly, a great deal of responsibility lies with the various forms of  » vaccine nationalism « . The most violent ones are currently taking place in Trump’s United States, where he is, for example, responsible for crimes against humanity in the case of the purchase last May of the entire available stock of the drug Remdesivir® from the American company Gilead Sciences (one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies in terms of market capitalization), which is considered to be an effective remedy for a speedy recovery from Covid-19. Trump made the purchase with the explicit intention of guaranteeing the drug to American citizens knowing that in doing so he would prevent access to other populations around the world until September/October⁽⁸⁾. And what can we say when the rich countries (15% of the world’s population, led by the United States and the European Union) have already signed agreements with the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies for billions of euros for the advance purchase of 60% of the doses of vaccines estimated to be available in 2021 and 2022, leaving less than 40% for the remaining 85% of the world’s inhabitants?⁽⁹⁾. This is a far cry from Pope Francis’ exhortation for more global brotherhood. This is no longer medical security nationalism, it is simply a policy of violence and injustice to the right to health of populations in impoverished countries. This is also aberrant. By its refusal, the WTO becomes the world organization that is the gravedigger of the common good, and by doing so, becomes de facto indirectly responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of individuals excluded from access to healthcare by economic mechanisms.

What to do? Intervening at the roots of the denial of the universal right to health

This policy is rooted in the abandonment of the principle of universal rights to life as a fundamental inspiration for living together and the recognition of essential goods and services for life as global public goods. The principle and recognition have been the basis of the rule of law and the welfare society and the obligation of states to guarantee universal rights through the safeguarding, care and promotion of the global public commons.

This policy has a name. It is called  » the policy of equitable and affordablemarketaccessto goods and services essential to life . It is an integral part of the The « global economic governance  » system set up in the 1980s to replace the public government system. The substitution was made in the name of the theses  » governing without governments « ,  » less state »,  » forget governments, company rules OK « .

Health, like water, food, housing and transportation, is one of the common goods of humanity to which everyone must have equal access in dignity and justice. Their privatization is the result of an essentially economic, commercial, utilitarian vision of the world, inspired by rivalry and exclusion.

The major international multilateral cooperation program against Covid-19 called ACT (Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator), launched on April 24 of this year by the WHO and led by the European Union in collaboration with other governments, the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and foundations (such as the Melissa and Bill Gates Foundation), has the explicit goal of ensuring equitable and affordable access to Covid-19 therapy for all. The application of the patent system is the main focus of the program. The two lead organizations, CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) and GAVI (Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunisation), major examples of the public-private partnership that marks the overall architecture of the program, are there to maneuver the patent system⁽¹⁰⁾.

The Indian and South African proposal (like the many calls since April for the promotion of Covid-19 vaccines as global public goods addressed to the UN and the world’s major powers) represented a serious and justified attempt to free the global fight against Covid-19 from subjugation to the private interests of the most powerful states and the world’s private industrial, commercial and financial groups.

In an Open Letter to the UN Secretary General that we sent him on September 7, 2020, before the 75th UN General Assembly, our association proposed three action initiatives to be taken without delay.

• Abandon in 2020 and 2021 the patentability of Covid-19 vaccine(s) on a private, for-profit basis, and create a UN global task force to propose a revision of existing intellectual property rules.
• Promote the launch of a global « New Finance for Health for All » program. The goal of the program would be to promote a strong capacity for the production and collection of autonomous financial resources of the so-called « poor » countries, thanks, among other things, to a World Bank that is gradually being transformed into a global « deposit and trust fund ».
• Establish a working group to evaluate and formulate proposals for the creation of a Global Security Council for the Global Commons and Public Goods (to begin with: water, health, knowledge)⁽¹¹⁾.

Public opinion has long known that the United States cannot be counted on to fight the environmental and climate catastrophe, to eradicate impoverishment, to build peace. Multinational companies are even less reliable. It is a pity that the current European political, economic and techno-scientific leaders believe mainly in the logic of trade, technology and finance and not in the rights and security of life of the world’s population.

It is time to work for the liberation of humanity from the domination of the private hoarders of life. Possible solutions exist.

* The Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth was created at the end of 2018 in Italy by citizens from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, France, Germany, India, Italy, Lebanon, Portugal, Spain, Quebec (Canada, Switzerland.)