July 28, 2021: Faith leaders from across the globe and from numerous faith traditions gathered together on July 20 both on Zoom and with some 100 participants in person on the National Mall in Washington DC to urge President Joe Biden to share COVID-19 vaccine stockpiles and to advocate for equitable global distribution of vaccines.
July 27, 2021: The Conversation today published a warning about the 15-state Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as the Australian parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties began its public hearings on the agreement, signed last November.
In the oped, AFTINET Convenor Dr Patricia Ranald explained that the trade-in-services chapter does not exempt Aged Care from “lock-in” of existing regulation and requires signatories to “not adversely modify existing regulation in particular services sectors”.
But the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety exposed multiple scandals caused by a lack of qualified staff and poor quality care, and recommended increases in staffing levels, increases in qualifications of staff and changes to licensing arrangements.
Message from Medecins Sans Frontières
Pharmaceutical company patent monopolies are the elephant in the room in the debate about Covid-19 vaccine shortages in Australia.
Most of debate locally has been about whether the federal government ordered enough vaccine doses last year from Pfizer and other companies. This misses the broader point that a handful of pharmaceutical companies control both the price and quantity of vaccines.
Even in the context of a global pandemic, they can set the terms in closed-door negotiations with rich countries. These companies have already made billions from vaccines which were developed at record speeds and supported with public funds.
Dr Patricia Ranald, AFTINET Convenor, explains the situation in today's the Guardian online.
July 21, 2021: The European Council and Parliament adopted a regulation establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) on July 14, 2021, as part of its delivery of a European Green Deal with the ambition of a 55 per cent cut in carbon emissions compared to 1990, by 2030, and zero net emissions by 2050.
MEDIA RELEASE July 19, 2021
An unusually wide range of national church, public health, aid and development and other civil society groups representing millions of Australians today sent the attached open letter to Government Ministers. The letter urges them to support the proposal for a temporary waiver of patent monopolies on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments that will be discussed at a key meeting of the World Trade Organisation on July 20.
July 14, 2021: German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces US protests tomorrow at her government’s opposition to the suspension of 20-year monopoly patents on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments at the World Trade Organisation. A “die-in” will be staged with a giant Merkel puppet lurking over dozens of body bags representing the millions of lives on the line.
July 12, 2021: More than 50,000 Australians have signed petitions asking the Australian Government to support changes to trade rules that would help most people in the world get access to COVID-19 vaccines. Negotiations have started and the Australian government still has not done so. We need to increase the pressure and tell our local MPs to support these changes.
July 5, 2021: As expected, TC Energy has lodged an Investor-State Dispute Settlement claim against the US government, using the legacy provisions of the former North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), after the Biden-Harris administration cancelled the permit for the project on their first day, January 20, 2021.