Government focus on sovereignty in Pandemic Treaty discussions ‘ironic’, say campaigners
Date: 14 May 2024
Campaigns: Pharma
Commenting on today’s discussion in Parliament following the urgent question raised on the WHO Pandemic Treaty, Tim Bierley, pharmaceuticals campaigner at Global Justice Now said:
It’s ironic this government seems so fixated on sovereignty when during the pandemic it was content to allow pharmaceutical corporations to privatise, monopolise and profiteer from taxpayer-funded research. Global cooperation to prepare for future pandemics is essential, yet it was this government which systematically blocked every effort to break up pharmaceutical corporations’ monopolies on Covid-19 vaccines, leading to over a million avoidable deaths in the global south and prolonging the pandemic globally. We need a pandemic treaty and a government prepared to stand up to Big Pharma, so corporations are never again allowed to monopolise lifesaving medicines and knowledge during a global health crisis.”
