India has been strongly advocating equity in WHO regarding Covid vaccines: Jitendra Singh at UNGA

United Nations/New Delhi, May 6 (FN Agency) India has been strongly advocating the principle of equity in the WHO regarding Covid vaccines and has proposed, along with South Africa, a TRIPS waiver at the WTO for Covid vaccines, diagnostics and medicines, for ensuring accessible and affordable vaccines for everyone, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh told the UN General Assembly. Addressing the top UN body, Singh also said that India has emerged as a member of leading international scientific coalitions in the area of Covid vaccine research. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the Second India-Nordic Summit on Wednesday had told the leaders of the five nations that there is a need for temporary TRIPS waiver for vaccine production globally, with a view to ensure vaccines availability to the needy countries. In October 2020, at the WTO’s TRIPS Council, India and South Africa proposed that the WTO waive the application of certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the duration of the pandemic with a view to facilitating wider access to technologies necessary for the production of vaccines and medicines.

The rapid scaling up of local production will be critical in order to ensure wide access to affordable and effective vaccines. The waiver proposal has been blocked at the TRIPS Council and the WTO ministerial Council but the negotiations are still on. MoS Singh also told the UNGA on Thursday that “India has emerged as a member of leading international scientific coalitions in the area of vaccine research. Our scientific community, along with the support of a robust pharmaceutical industry, have been successful in developing and producing safe, effective, and affordable vaccines, including the world’s first DNA based vaccine.” He said India is working actively with GAVI, WHO and ACT Accelerator (Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, a G20 initiative). “I am glad to point over here that India developed Co-WIN App, to provide digital support to better organize vaccination drives.” He said the number of Internet users in Indian villages currently has exceeded that of the cities and Public services and last mile delivery are linked to digital platforms. All these have contributed to the advancement and achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

He said, In the spirit of South-South Cooperation, India is collaborating with the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (one of the UN’s main tools for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and UN’s Interagency Task Team (IATT) in supporting pilot countries from Africa and other developing world in formulating and implementing their Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development Goals Roadmaps. He said that current data related to COVID-19 cases demonstrates that the world is still far from a post-pandemic world. “Science, Technology and Innovation should therefore become an inclusive and equitable tool for SDG delivery based on affordable, accessible and available technological innovation,” he added. He was speaking at the Virtual 7th Annual Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals.