596.   We have seen over the past months how countries have mobilised unprecedented investments in collaborative, not-for-profit R&D. The COVID-19 pandemic is showing what we can do when we come together to face a shared global health threat. That is the kind of collaboration that can save lives and transform the health of billions of people globally. That is what the nations of the world agreed on SDGS and SDG 3 "ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages". 597.   WHO would like to thank the initiative of the Government of South Africa to open the discussions on this topic related to the interfaces between access to medicines and medical technologies and intellectual property. WHO understands the reference in the communication (contained in document IP/C/W/666) to the who recently launched "COVID-19 technology access pool" (C-TAP) and the South African concern as one of the 40 WHO Members that launched "the solidarity call to action: to realize equitable global access to COVID-19 health technologies through pooling of knowledge, intellectual property and data", one month ago, together with who director general and the president of Costa Rica. 598.   South Africa mentions that "to date no company has committed to doing so. Instead limited, exclusive and often non-transparent voluntary licensing is the preferred approached of pharmaceutical companies, which will be insufficient to address the needs of the current COVID-19 pandemic". 599.   WHO Secretariat would like to take this opportunity to inform the TRIPS Council that this knowledge, IP and data sharing platform, C-TAP, is meant to provide equitable access to life-saving technologies by promoting through voluntary means open innovation models and technology transfer, as well as promoting equitable global access through access-oriented licensing to fast-track product development and mobilizing additional manufacturing capacity. 600.   WHO calls on WTO Members to join "the solidarity call to action" and support C-TAP initiative, which is a complementary tool to the access to COVID treatment Accelerator (ACT-A) and in line with the global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property, as well as in accordance to the most recent WHA resolution on COVID-19 response that, among other aspects, "calls on international organizations and other stakeholders: (…)(2) to work collaboratively at all levels to develop, test, and scale-up production of safe, effective, quality, affordable diagnostics, therapeutics, medicines and vaccines for the COVID-19 response, including, existing mechanisms for voluntary pooling and licensing of patents in order to facilitate timely, equitable and affordable access to them, consistent with the provisions of relevant international treaties, including the provisions of the agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS Agreement) and the flexibilities within the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health".