In October 2020, India and South Africa proposed a waiver of World Trade Organization (WTO) intellectual property barriers that limit global production of COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments.
On March 15, 2022, a leaked text emerged that is dramatically different from -- and significantly worse than -- the original proposal. The worst elements of this proposal can be traced directly to the European Union and the United States.
Civil society and academic experts around the world have called the leaked text “the lowest common denominator,” an “abomination,” and “worse than nothing.”
But it’s not a done deal yet.