Kristina Murkett

How Britain can really help India tackle its Covid crisis

Funeral pyres of Covid-19 victims at a cremation ground in New Delhi (Getty images)

India’s Covid situation is dire: hospitals have run out of beds (some hospitals are treating patients in cars), people are turning to the black market for drugs and oxygen cylinders, and mass cremations are taking place in car parks. The official daily death toll is around 2000, but the likely reality is much, much higher.

Britain has offered to help by sending 600 pieces of medical equipment to support the country in its Covid crisis. But the reality is that our country could do much more to help its ally than just offer a token shipment of supplies.

The UK continues to block a patent waiver designed to boost the global production of Covid vaccines. The proposal, jointly submitted by India and South Africa in October and backed by over 100 (mostly developing) nations, has been stonewalled by a small number of countries, including the UK, US, the EU, Switzerland, Japan, Norway and Brazil.

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