Australia is being urged to take a strong stand at an upcoming World Trade Organization meeting in support of a waiver on intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines.
India and South Africa have led a campaign to change World Trade Organization (WTO) rules to make it easier for low- and middle-income countries to manufacture generic versions of the vaccines. Current rules require member nations to provide patents on new vaccines for at least 20 years.
Trade Minister Dan Tehan on Wednesday gave the government’s strongest support yet for the international push and said private discussions have been held with partners around making the waiver a reality.
But despite more than 100 countries - including the United States and New Zealand - offering their support for the change, the measure has so far been blocked from going ahead at the WTO.
Human Rights Watch Australia researcher Sophie McNeill said a meeting on Tuesday at the world trade body would allow Australia to firmly make its case for the waiver to go ahead.
"We want action now, not just words from the government," she told SBS News.
"If a wealthy country like Australia is having problems accessing vaccines, think of all these countries less wealthy than us and their situation."
Several advocacy groups have been pushing for the government to take a public stand on its support for the waiver to be implemented as COVID-19 infections continue to soar across the globe.
The pressure intensified after the US declared its support for the measure in May.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the time firmly welcomed the move but did not directly declare Australia would follow suit.
Mr Tehan on Wednesday signalled the government’s support for the measure as part of efforts to “expand the production of vaccines globally”.
"We've been working with countries to make sure we can get a resolution to this issue," he told reporters.
"We need everyone across the globe to be able to get access to a vaccine - ultimately if we are to be safe."
The Trade Minister said this included holding private discussions with representatives from India, South Africa and the United States about the issue.
Minister for Trade Dan Tehan speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney. Source: AAP
The heart of the push for the waiver centres on ensuring vaccine access for poorer nations.
The vaccine-sharing initiative COVAX has said it expects be able to provide COVID jabs to no more than 20 per cent of people in poorer countries this year, far fewer than anticipated.
The group has expressed concern about the drastic imbalance in access to COVID-19 vaccines between rich and poor nations.
"The global picture of access to COVID-19 vaccines is unacceptable," COVAX said in a statement overnight.
Dr Patricia Ranald, convenor of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, is among those pushing for the waiver on vaccines to be implemented.
She said voluntary donation schemes like COVAX alone could not be relied on to ensure vaccine supply.
"We need Australia to step up and take a leadership role to ensure this happens," she told SBS News.
"If we go on as we are, most people in low-income countries won’t have access to vaccines for several years."
The director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has also called on wealthy countries with large supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to refrain from offering booster shots.
He has previously warned of a "two-track pandemic" with Western countries protected and poorer nations still exposed.
"I will not stay silent when companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the world's poor should be satisfied with leftovers," he said in Geneva overnight.
In May, Pfizer warned the waiver proposal "incorrectly portrays IP as a barrier to rapid innovation, R&D collaboration and access to COVID-19 vaccines and other products".
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization. Source: Keystone
Ms McNeill said there was concern that several European countries remained opposed to adopting a waiver, following lobbying from pharmaceutical companies.
"We are really concerned about what kind of lobbying pharmaceutical companies are putting on European nations," she said. "This is urgent and there is a global vaccine shortage - we need to get this done."
