MORE CORPORATE PROFITS or

SAVE MILLIONS OF LIVES?

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Come out Thursday, July 15th, 1:30 in front of the Austin German Consulate

912 S. Capitol of Texas Hwy (Hwy 360) Suite 450

We will deliver a letter to the Consulate while having a vigil outside the building.

You can also call the counselor Dorothee Mitchell at 512-852-4162, which is her law office, or send an email to her at austin@hk-diplo.de.

The WTO's Intellectual Property Rules Will

Kill Millions Who Won't Get The Vaccine In Time

As you may know, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has rules that protect the intellectual property rights of corporations, including diagnostic tests and formulas for how to produce vaccines.  These rules block countries and manufacturers from accessing the formulas and know-how needed to increase production of COVID vaccines and related medical supplies.

A couple of months ago, many thousands of us contacted our congressional representatives to get them to sign a letter to President Biden who then adopted our demand for a temporary waiver of WTO rules on patents. This would allow countries to produce COVID vaccines as quickly as possible – but the waiver is being opposed by 10 of the world’s richest countries although almost all the poor countries favor it. Leading the opposition to this waiver is German, so people are going to German government offices all over the world to demand that they cease their opposition. Germany and other rich countries are just protecting the profits of their pharmaceutical companies.

WHO REALLY OWNS THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?

$115,000,000,000 of public funds and the work of dozens of public institutions all over the world were used to develop the vaccines.  But, if there isn’t a waiver of WTO rules, 90% of those in poor countries will not have a vaccination this year and it will take up to 7 years to vaccinate 75% of the world’s population.

SAVING LIVES ABROAD WILL SAVE LIVES AT HOME

We don’t live on an island. Ramping up production of COVID vaccines and treatments has the potential to save millions of lives and could help head-off a viral mutation that could prolong the pandemic for everyone. Viruses know no borders and even if the US gets herd immunity to current strains, an explosion of cases in other countries could lead to a more virulent strain entering the US.

WHAT ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORT THIS EFFORT?

In addition to support from most of the world’s governments, the TRIPS waiver is also supported by hundreds of U.S. civil society organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, Oxfam, National Nurses United, Partners In Health, the American Federation of Teachers, Human Rights Watch, Citizens Trade Campaign and many others.