The Netherlands gives its support to a global pool for rights on data, knowledge and intellectual property on Covid-19 that can be freely shared. Last week Wemos sent a letter to the Dutch cabinet, on behalf of 38 civil society organisations, political youth organisations and 20 public health experts to request the Dutch government for support.
Costa Rica sent a letter to Dr. Tedros, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). It has requested WHO to create a global pool for data, knowledge and technologies that can be of use in the prevention, detection and treatment of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Netherlands supports this call to actively support the Costa Rica proposal.
A Covid-19 pool would enable accelerated production of the required Covid-19 technologies. In addition, it would meet the global need for affordable products – a relevant issue, now that Covid-19 is affecting more and more countries with limited financial resources and often weak health systems.
Ella Weggen (Wemos): “Several governments have already indicated that holding on to rights, data and knowledge for the production of resources in the fight against Covid-19, will not lead to the desired result. The Netherlands, Chile, Israel, Canada and Germany have already indicated that they will use compulsory licenses to lift the exclusivity of patents, if necessary. A Covid-19 pool would increase the chances for everyone in the world to access appropriate treatments.”
Dr. Tedros of the WHO is positive about Costa Rica’s proposal[1]. Now the Netherlands supports the pool. In recent years the Netherlands has been a global frontrunner on fair access to affordable medicines. The government uses this strong position in international discussions to support the pooling mechanism and promote it towards the rest of Europe. This way, the Covid-19 pool can become a reality.
Tom Buis (Wemos): “The Netherlands shows solidarity with all affected countries and commits to realising a Covid-19 pool. This is a good first step to maximise resource production and minimise financial pressures on healthcare systems worldwide.”
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