Drug patents should be revoked so people can have equal access to medication while the world is facing the outbreak of Covid-19, the Aids Healthcare Foundation says.
Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) held a webinar to launch the campaign "VOW: Vaccinate Our World", a global vaccination effort to end the Covid-19 pandemic.
It urges world leaders, G20 and global financial institutions to contribute to ending the pandemic in struggling countries.
The idea is to ensure equal access to Covid-19 medication around the world, especially waiving medical patents that hinder access to their production.
Apiwat Kwangkaew, the Thai Network of People Living with HIV chairman, said to achieve a Covid-19 free world, it was necessary to set two goals: getting people vaccinated, and alleviating symptoms via the anti-viral drug Favipiravir.
However, the problem was the patent that obstructed the process.
He urged patent owners or major powers to help those who are struggling.
"It is not the time to be concerned about profit but the life and death of people," Mr Apiwat said.
"Medicines are not luxury goods but a human necessity. They should not use [patents] to monopolise drug accessibility."
On local production of Favipiravir, he said the Department of Intellectual Property has rejected an application for a patent.
Nevertheless, the drug developer had further appealed to the court.
"Another obstacle is that the GPO [Government Pharmaceutical Organisation] and the government sector are not brave enough to waive or provoke the pending patent on drug production that is left in Thailand," he said.
"We should not let intellectual property to block the process. The government should ensure the GPO that they can manufacture this drug as it can save people's lives."
Sarath Chhim, AHF Asia Bureau chief, said that although global vaccination was the only way to solve the pandemic, unequal vaccine distribution was a problem which left many countries struggling.
"Almost 90% of the more than 700 million vaccines administered globally went to middle- to high–income countries while others received only 0.2%," Mr Sarath said.
He said the world should unite and call upon G20 and global financial institutions to contribute.
"Vaccine patents must be waived in this time of crisis and production must speed up to catch up with the pandemic. No one is safe if somebody is left behind," he said.