(LD)
[V]: My Lords, I welcome the government support from the UK aid
budget for the initiatives that the Minister has mentioned.
However, we still do not have a way to scale up the global
manufacturing capability needed to meet the colossal demand that
there will be for a Covid vaccine. There are two initiatives in
play: the WHO Covid-19 Technology Access Pool—C-TAP—and today’s
proposal to the TRIPS Council by South Africa and
Indiato waive parts of the TRIPS Agreement. Urgent
action is needed, so can the Minister say which option the
Government favour?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth
and Development Office () (Con): My
Lords, we are working closely with the WHO through the ACT
accelerator to ensure that we are able to rapidly develop and
produce the vaccines as and when they become available...
(Non-Afl): My
Lords, I welcome the Government’s commitment to COVAX and the
WHO. Will the Minister accept that the vaccine may not be the
panacea or exact solution for all countries, including those in
conflict regions, where international responses must include the
reasonably costed availability of safe and quality medicinal
products and equipment, including CPAP systems, for the
management of Covid? Notwithstanding the inevitable demands on
this side of the planet, what discussion has taken place with
countries such as Bangladesh and India which
have excellent reputations in the production of medicines, so
that they can be easily available to the regions and elsewhere?
(Con): My
Lords, the noble Baroness is quite right that we do not know how
effective a vaccine may be or when it may come, so of course, we
must continue our work across the world, supporting nutrition and
handwashing facilities and making sure we are keeping people as
safe as possible while we wait for the vaccine. The noble
Baroness is also right that we must work with countries that have
expertise in this field. On India specifically,
we were very pleased to see AstraZeneca’s partnership with the
Serum Institute of India; collectively, they
will support the production of 1.3 billion doses of the Oxford
University vaccine, should it be successful.
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