TY - JOUR T1 - Intellectual property rights need to be subverted to ensure global vaccine access JF - BMJ Global Health JO - BMJ Global Health DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005656 VL - 6 IS - 4 SP - e005656 AU - Salla Sariola Y1 - 2021/04/01 UR - http://gh.bmj.com/content/6/4/e005656.abstract N2 - Summary boxVaccine access is essential for building global immunity against COVID-19, and presently, low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are facing considerable barriers for access.Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are a crucial obstacle for global vaccine access.Instead of making vaccines available openly, IPRs protect industry profits over human health and well-being.Philanthropic programmes are not delivering vaccines to LMICs fast enough and distort the role of IPRs at the heart of access injustice.An international movement to waive IPRs of COVID-19 vaccines is gaining support globally, but rich countries at the World Trade Organisation are opposing.Global health scholars need to join the pressure to realise global vaccine access.A commentary by Murphy and colleagues,1 published in BMJ Global Health on the 19 February 2021, brings attention to the unprecedented efforts for COVID-19 vaccine discovery and asks if the world could learn from this example to better facilitate access to medicines in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).My response to their comment claims that though well intended and to the point, the commentary misses a crucial bottleneck in research and development, namely, intellectual property rights (IPRs) that hinder the actualisation of global vaccine access.Instead of making vaccine knowledge available openly, IPRs protect industry benefits over human health and well-being. The current arrangement is epidemiologically short-sighted and unjust. The brunt of vaccine capitalism is felt most in LMICs and Africa in particular.2 Presently, philanthropic programmes to deliver vaccines to LMICs are not fast enough, and a social movement is picking up speed to subvert IPRs that are upheld by rich countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Global health communities need to take a stronger stance against IPRs that are protecting vaccine pharma over the world’s poorest and leverage political will to make global vaccine access a reality.IPRs … ER -