COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic nearly a year ago, and in that time, global leaders have increasingly seen the importance of innovation and collaboration in addressing this major global health challenge. Austria – as one of only 34 countries represented on the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board in 2021 – has an extraordinary opportunity to advance efforts that fuel progress and support a strong intellectual property (IP) and innovation ecosystem.
One such opportunity is when the Executive Board continues conversations on the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (GSPOA). The GSPOA, negotiated and approved 13 years ago, helps countries set policies to support discovery of new treatments and cures for diseases disproportionately affecting developing nations.
Importantly, the GSPOA views IP as “an important incentive in the development of health care products.” However, as nations look to speed COVID-19 therapies and vaccines to people worldwide, some leaders have supported misguided policies, such as compulsory licensing, that could inadvertently delay efforts to contain the pandemic. Proposals to erode or suspend longstanding intellectual property policies threaten much-needed innovation for developing and developed nations alike. Such focus also strays from the WHO’s main mission of leading the global coordination and response to pandemics like the coronavirus and other health emergencies – which should remain the priority, especially now.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll, but it has also spurred unprecedented collaboration and innovation to address it – due, in no small part, to strong IP systems that protect innovators. Austria has been hit hard by COVID-19, both socially and economically. By the end of 2020, for example, the country projected its GDP could be 7.5% lower than in 2019.
Embracing innovation and supporting innovative industries could help reverse economic setbacks from the pandemic. Austria appears to appreciate this fact, moving up two spots since last year and ranking 19th out of the 131 economies featured in the 2020 Global Innovation Index.
They continue to show appreciation for the role of IP, innovation and collaboration in addressing our current challenges:
- At the WIPO’s Assemblies of the Member States in September, Austria emphasized “the ability and actual role of IP to stimulate creativity and innovation and thus contributing to economic, cultural and social development of all countries especially in difficult times like now.”
- At last year’s World Health Assembly, Austria championed COVID-19 treatments and vaccinations be “accessible to all member states.”
- And toward the start of the pandemic, several Austrian scientists and vaccine experts signed on to a statement in support of collaboration around COVID-19 vaccine development, where these experts and others sought to “continue efforts to strengthen the unprecedented worldwide collaboration, cooperation and sharing of data already underway.”
Austria should continue to speak up to defend IP and innovation, which it very much supports for its own nation’s prosperity, as well as advocate for continued partnerships, including collaboration with private sector. In doing so, we can end the coronavirus pandemic and improve global health.
