Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Oscar Maurtua deemed it fundamental that international community coordinate a joint response and concrete actions to face the insufficient production capacity of COVID-19 vaccines and their inequitable distribution among countries, so as to overcome the global health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Remarks were made on Wednesday during his participation at the Foreign Affairs Ministers' Summit on COVID-19, organized by the United States of America.
In his speech, the high-ranking official noted that Peru proposes a process to develop the necessary vaccine production capacities and thus meet the needs of a region that still suffers the consequences of the distribution deficit.
The diplomat said, however, that the scientific and technological gap among states is evident in this complex process, hence the need for global cooperation to allow transferring technology and knowledge to non-producing countries; developing local capacities for research, production, and distribution of vaccines; and securing global raw material supply chains.
"Without global and equitable access, it will be impossible to ensure the universal right to health, to which we all must be committed for the benefit of our populations," the diplomat emphasized.
Additionally, Maurtua reiterated Peru's stance on the need to make COVID-19 vaccines global public goods, in order to address inequalities in access to them and their production technology.
"In this regard, Peru calls for an early agreement on the exemption of intellectual property rights in the
World Trade Organization (WTO) —namely patents— which would constitute a milestone in the fight against the pandemic. The international community as a whole could celebrate this as a historic and unprecedented achievement that directly benefits our peoples," he remarked.
According to the minister, Peru gives a key role to multilateral financial institutions such as the
World Bank and the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which must provide fast and affordable financial support for research, development, production, and acquisition of vaccines.
(END) NDP/RMCH/RMB/MVB
Published: 11/10/2021