Medicine equality does not exist

Who gets to decide if you receive a life-saving vaccine? Or treatment you need for cancer, malaria or other life-threatening conditions?

In 1995, the World Trade Organization introduced the TRIPS Agreement, launching patent rights for medicines, vaccines and other essential health technologies. It was supposed to incentivize innovation by rewarding investment.

But the patent system is broken — it always has been. Pharma’s profits are up but medical breakthroughs are down.

Where you live is also a factor in whether you live or die. It’s time to restore medicines to a public right — it’s a fight for survival.

The pandemic has dragged patent abuse on important medicine into the spotlight

There’s never been a better time to reshape our broken system than right now — it’s time to act.

Share our campaign today

We’re calling for an end to TRIPS: the world’s worst international agreement

What we're proposing (PDF)

Who decides if you get a life-saving vaccine?

Why now?

Millions of people die each year of curable diseases

The system protects profit over people.
People die because they can’t access life-saving treatment.
Corporations profit off our investment

Billions of taxpayer dollars go into drug development each year, yet private, profit-led corporations claim the benefits. We're paying twice — first through our taxes, then having to buy the drugs we need to survive.
The system rewards patent applications, not innovation

They’re not the same thing. The majority of patents are examples of ‘evergreening’ - using intellectual property to extend lucrative monopolies on old drugs, not new discoveries.