#Right2Cure: No profit on pandemics

The civil society in Europe and around the world puts pressure on governments and international organisations to take into account the public interest in their response to COVID-19 pandemics. The Barricade has recently published the open letter by the Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth – an international civil society organisation, that aims to encourage the establishment of common goods on international level – such as water or knoweldge, in the context of the forthcoming special session of the UN General Assembly on COVID-19 pandemics on 3-4 December 2020. Now the Barricade republishes the call to action to the initiative Right2Cure, which is supported by the left group GUE/NGL in the European Parliament. It appeared originally at the site of Transform!Europe on 18 November 2020.  
Under the slogan Right2Cure, the initiative supported by the GUE/NGL – The left group in the European Parliament and various left-wing parties and grassroots organisations from all across Europe petition Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to fulfil the promise of universal access, making a future Covid-19 vaccine a public good. The current EU vaccines strategy contains no strong commitment on this.
The Right2Cure initiative pinpoints patents as the main barrier to the fulfilment of this goal as they grant big pharma market exclusivity over lifesaving drugs and the ability to determine prices and make huge profits from the pandemic.
Pharmaceutical corporations have been known to exploit patents to limit access to effective treatments and cures, at the expense of countless lives in Europe and across the world.

To sign the petition, click here.
Photo: Time for civic action (source: Pixabay, CC0)
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