Ms Winnie Byanyima:

We have a situation where the rules that regulate business and trade, which have been in place for the past 30 years or so, have had an impact on our minds to the extent that we think that the right to profit is equal to the right to health and the right to life. We have a mindset that is completely taken over by the notion that profit is as important as health and life. It is a big problem for all of us that we have developed a mindset that justifies profits coming before life. The second issue is that the rules themselves, which we should be challenging, are not being challenged. Why is that? It is because shareholders in this modern world of trade have become so important in businesses that their voice is more important than that of workers, communities and ordinary people. We had a form of trade and business 30 years ago that allowed profits to be ploughed back into workers' wages, research and community development. Shareholders took only 10% of profits in the UK, for example, but today, shareholders take 70% of total profits. The voice of shareholders is so dominant in the politics of our countries. Their voice is heard before the voice of ordinary people, including consumers and workers and that is part of the problem.

We would like to see countries that do not host the pharmaceutical companies that produce the vaccines joining C-TAP because they do not have anything to lose. We salute Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Norway for supporting C-TAP, as well as many other developing countries. Of course, countries like Germany, the USA and the UK oppose C-TAP because the pharmaceutical companies and their shareholders have a powerful voice in those countries. We would like the countries that do not have a stake in the companies producing the vaccines to come together and insist on fairer rules that allow sharing of the technology. We urge them to back the WTO waiver that is being requested at the TRIPS Council or to join C-TAP. These are two avenues that will assist in maximising vaccine production for the world. The interests of big companies and their shareholders are blocking progress towards justice and equity in access to vaccines.