 For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. After making America sick again, Trump is trying to compensate for his administration's failure by buying up the entire stock of Remdesivil from Gilead for the next three months for the US and leaving nothing for the rest of the world. Remdesivil is the only drug that has shown some benefit in fighting the novel coronavirus and drug trials. It works by reducing the replication of the virus in the human body and this helps in shortening the hospital's stay of the patient by about 15-20%. As Remdesivil cuts down the infectious period, it is also useful for society as it lowers the rate of virus transmission. In this particular case, instead of looking at the common good of humanity, the US should be talking about the intellectual property and monopoly over the drug at the moment. This seems to fly in the face of what the world needs and also shows, shall we say, the kind of exceptionalism that the US believes in, that the world's good doesn't matter to it. It has only respect for its own good and in this particular case, the good of Gilead because it's also getting a fact price for the drug and of course that the American people will get this drug at least available to their insurance cover and that is what is in store for rest of the world that unless we break patents, we're manufacturing it ourselves. Remdesivil is not going to do a medicine which is accessible to the rest of the world. At the World Health Assembly, the US was the only country that opposed the resolution that all medicines and vaccines should be put in a common patent pool and be accessible to all countries at reasonable cost. The price at which Gilead is selling Remdesivil is another issue. Remdesivil is a particularly egregious case because, you know, it's a small molecule. The cost of this molecule is probably not more than $10 for a full five-day course. This is not what I'm saying. This is what there has been institutions which have been working on it, have worked on the detailed costing and they have come to the figure that about $10 is the total cost of production. Now Remdesivil is also being charged to even US customers at $3,000 for the insurance for those who are going to the hospitals. We're not insured. It's $2,000 but that is 200 times the cost or 300 times the cost of the production of the medicine, production cost of the medicine. So already you are seeing profiteering on the very high scale. Even if the US had not done that, what it has, capturing the total stock, the issue of actually licensing Remdesivil compulsorily would have been there. And this is what we have been arguing for some time. We hadn't flagged the issue that US might capture most of the stock of medicine. We had raised this. But our also concern was the price which we are going to get. In India, the price that we talked of is about roughly about $400. $25,000 to $30,000 is $350,000 to $400. The price that is being talked of told that that price is completely out of the question for large sections of the Indian people. Why is the Trump administration doing this? This could be to make the US citizens feel that Trump is looking after them by providing medicines. Even as his administration has played miserably in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. Another reason could be that by controlling the medicine for the rest of the world, Trump can bargain with them and try to regain the global hegemon status that the US has lost. With this step, the US has ultimately cleared its intentions regarding vaccinations. The US has backed five companies with a $13 billion purse to support vaccine development. If any of these vaccines succeed and others do not, there could be a similar situation for vaccines as well. So what can the rest of the world do? The basic issue is can you break that monopoly of patent? And answer is yes. Most countries have compulsory licensing under its kitty, in their kitty. And so does the world. In fact, WTO itself in 2001, the Doha declaration had accepted that yes, countries can break the patent and can license companies within their country and also outside. This can import this from anywhere. This is under conditions where there is a health emergency, out there is an epidemic and in this case it's both COVID-19 is really both. The countries have the right to do so. So we have a right to do so. When we have a right, why should we beg, confront, fight? We should exercise the right. I'm sure the US has the right to say it's company within this short set to take over all the production. That's the right it has. So we have the right to manufacture. Remdesivir is a small chemical molecule which is easy to manufacture. So why are other countries than not starting the manufacture of Remdesivir? Trade sanctions under US TR301 is a threat that the US holds over many countries. For instance, India figures prominently each year in the US super 301 list because its patent act is not in conformity with US laws. The question again is the political will to do so and can we stand up to the United States and that is something which will be good for countries to come together on. So we get a club of countries who come together to say we'll collectively break the monopoly of the United States on either Remdesivir or the vaccines when it comes. That I think is the way we should go. So it's a kind of global negotiations with each other that we have to do rather than with the United States at this point.