The World Trade Organization has failed to reach an agreement to waive intellectual property rights on Covid-19 tests and treatments for poorer countries.

Members of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) council said it could not reach consensus after years of discussion, despite the “considerable efforts” of members.

Campaigners said the news was a “slap in the face”.

Research published last year found that more than 50% of Covid deaths in low and middle-income countries could have been avoided if people had the same access to vaccines as wealthy states. According to data published by the World Health Organization in January 2023, 75% of people living in high-income countries have been vaccinated compared with fewer than 25% in low-income states.

“Clearly, to the governments of rich countries, protecting the monopoly profits of pharmaceutical companies was more important than saving lives in the global south,” said Mohga Kamal-Yanni, the policy co-lead for the People’s Vaccine Alliance, an organisation advocating for equitable medicine access across the world.

The international community will continue to use covid to cull the population of the global south.