Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses. Doctors Without Borders does incredible work around the world, and it's been my pleasure to engage with them on a broad range of issues.
I want to start my questions with Vice-Minister Blanco Ferri.
Thank you so much for being with us today. I always particularly appreciate when we have the opportunity at the foreign affairs committee to directly engage with leaders and officials from other countries.
I thought your comment was interesting about whether we view vaccines as a market good or a public good.
It seems to me that we are a bit inconsistent, in some ways, in how we treat vaccines. On the one hand, pharmaceutical companies seek protection in terms of intellectual property that comes with being a market good, but in other respects, we've created vaccines like a public good. There have been grants that have been given for the development of vaccines, and also vaccine manufacturers have been protected through indemnification clauses.
We heard previously at this committee that COVAX has an indemnification mechanism, whereby people who bring forward complaints about vaccine injuries can be compensated through a no-fault fund, but industry does not contribute to that fund.
It seems to me that on some level industry gets the benefits of a market goods structure, that is, the protection for intellectual property, while also seeking the benefits of a public goods structure, that is, to be insulated from liability in the event of problems as well as to receive grants for production.
Vice-Minister, I wonder if you can reflect on that question and whether you agree or not with the description I offered.
Also, could you share a bit about how, in practice, the indemnification clauses work for your country? My understanding is that countries are expected to sign on to indemnification agreements if they want to get access to particular vaccines. If they have concerns about the indemnification structure, then they won't be able to access those vaccines. I wonder if you could comment on that and what the process has been like from your end.