Sanofi, by announcing that the United States would be the first to distribute a potential vaccine against Covid-19, provoked anger and indignation. COVID-19 has no nation or ethnicity. If the pandemic is not monitored in one country, it will accelerate beyond the borders of that country, potentially overwhelming the response capacity of the entire world. This is prompting 250 international organizations to sign a joint declaration of alert and reminder that health is a human good.
Attac France alert: nationalist responses to COVID-19 are ineffective. Countries urgently need to work together to speed up the production of all necessary medical goods (masks, ventilators, tests, treatments and vaccines) and ensure that everyone receives the medical care he or she needs: "We need to address not only COVID-19 and its symptoms, but also the ongoing and basic health needs of populations, which will become more acute as the pandemic progresses. »
250 organisations from around the world sign a joint declaration
There is a real danger that access to medical advances concerning VIDOC-19 will be limited by states, price, limited production and fragmented supply chains, and commercial exclusivity and confidentiality.
Also, through a joint statement, 250 international organizations alert to prevent this - and help advance medical innovation, health and nationalism - by encouraging companies, health organizations and governments to share medical technology, invest in public manufacturing capacity and promote access for all.
It is feared that powerful countries will favour their pharmaceutical companies and restrict medical technology to their own use to the detriment of international cooperation: "We fear that the privileged people who benefit first from tests, treatments and vaccines are not those who need them most. We stand in solidarity with those who are disproportionately affected by VIDOC-19 due to aggravating factors such as health status, geography, age, gender or race. »
An appeal to governments
This declaration is a call to governments, international institutions, manufacturers, donors and development actors to commit themselves to :
- Innovation for all: The development of drugs, relying on private monopolies, is a failure for the world. Governments should support freely available scientific research and research practices for VIDC-19-related health needs that combine innovation with access to results. Owners of health technologies should place patents, trade secrets, know-how, stem cells, copyrights, software, data and other relevant intellectual property in the public domain. Accessibility on affordable terms should be an integral part of the entire research and development (R&D) and manufacturing process.
- Access for all: Urgently needed medical technologies and medical goods to diagnose, treat, mitigate and prevent IDVOC-19 should be accessible and available to all without delay, with priority given to health care workers and vulnerable populations. Governments must ensure that diagnostics, treatment, technical devices, vaccines and personal protective equipment are made available at fair and affordable prices to health sector actors and are free to the public at the point of care in all countries. Companies and other intellectual property owners must suspend the application of their market exclusivities.
- Global solidarity and cooperation: Governments, health technology owners and researchers urgently need to coordinate with the World Health Organization to organize platforms for public sharing of research and development results, data, know-how and intellectual property to accelerate innovation, rapidly increase production and mitigate supply chain shortages and vulnerability. Medical goods must be produced for the public in sufficient quantities to meet an unprecedented global need and be rapidly distributed across borders.
- Good governance and transparency: Governments and international organizations should promote transparency and effective participation of civil society in key decision-making processes. Funders and developers of health technologies must ensure that R&D and manufacturing costs, as well as prices, regulatory status and intellectual property claims, are all published in a transparent manner.
Health is a human right. Medical knowledge is a public good. No one should be left behind.
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Source: Attac France, 14 May 2020
To go further :
- Sanofi merges with Macronie! François Ruffin, August 2018
Good initiative! Viruses and pandemics have no borders. It is necessary to coordinate around the WHO and organize by geographical area and not by country. Do not prevent private research, which is often more reactive and efficient than public research, but put a public health obligation on these private companies.