42. 2020 年 10 月 2 日，印度和南非向世贸组织与贸易有关的知识产权问题理事会提出申请，要求“为了预防、控制和治疗 COVID-19,不强制执行[《与贸易有关的知识产权协定》]的某些条款”。143 它们提出这一请求，目的是中止履行《与贸易有关的知识产权协定》关于医疗产品的义务，包括遏制疫情所需的药品、疫苗、治疗方法、诊断工具、医疗用品和测试数据144，以便低收入国家能够133 见 https://english.alarabiya.net/en/coronavirus/2020/04/27/Coronavirus-Cuban-sends-200-doctors-to-help-South-Africa-fight-COVID-19。134 见 www.democracynow.org/2020/3/24/cuba_medical_diplomacy_italy_coronavirus。135 Poggioli, “For help on coronavirus”.
42. On 2 October 2020, India and South Africa applied to the Council for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights of WTO for a “waiver from certain provisions of the [Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement)] for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19”.143 By that request, they sought the suspension of obligations under the TRIPS Agreement on medical products, including drugs, vaccines, treatments, diagnostics, medical supplies and test data, 144 needed to control the pandemic, with a view to enabling low-income countries to gain access to the tools. Most developed countries have, as at November 2020, opposed the waiver request, whereas most developing countries have supported it.145 Limiting patent protections for COVID-19 related medical products and services will facilitate access to lower-cost generic versions of COVID-19 vaccines.146 Just like for the global AIDS epidemic, compulsory licensing can “[alleviate] insufficient supplies of necessary pharmaceuticals as well as [mitigate] prohibitively expensive drug prices”.147