Write an essay to discuss the flexibilities offered by WTO in relation to access to covid-19 vaccines
Covid-19 and Access to Medical Goods and Services
The world has been hit hard by the outbreak of COVID-19, and the access to COVID-19 vaccine is very important for the whole human being to combat against the rampage of the virus for the protection of public health.
The WTO has provided some flexible mechanism to deal with the pandemics. For example, the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) requires members to provide minimum standards of patent protection for either products or processes inventions developed in all fields of technology, including pharmaceutical products.
Any vaccines against COVID-19 developed by any companies are likely to be patented. As a consequence of the patent protection, these companies can control the price of the vaccines, which in turn may hinder access to the vaccines, especially to those poor people who cannot afford the vaccines.
The TRIPS Agreement itself provides substantive flexibilities in its system that are relevant to pursue public health goals.
Please write an essay to discuss the flexibilities offered by WTO in relation to access to covid-19 vaccines and what international trade policy should Australia take to promote
the access to covid-19 vaccination?
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