UNAIDS head Winnie_Byanyima said rich countries have chosen to 'protect the monopolies and profits of pharma companies, and millions of people have died who shouldn't have died.'
"It should have happened long ago. Instead, negotiation has been derailed by a number of rich countries."
But rich nations—including European Union members, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States—and the powerful pharmaceutical industry have repeatedly derailed TRIPS waiver talks over the past year and a half as millions of people have died of Covid-19 worldwide. that the WTO and rich nation governments have characterized as potential compromise agreements veer so far from India and South Africa's original proposal that they can't be described as waivers at all.in March and formally submitted to the WTO in May is"similar to that which is advocated by Europe, reflecting the interest of the pharmaceutical industry."
Byanyima added that patent waiver negotiations should have been"simple and straightforward," given the enormous human costs of inaction in the face of a deadly public health emergency.