Want a simple way to join one of our creative actions? Our activists have been adding another element to their social distancing runs. Check it out below:
Next time you go for a run (or a walk, or a bike ride) to get some fresh air and exercise while in isolation, take a piece of chalk with you! When you need a break, find a place where others are likely to pass by, and share a message. Here’s some possibilities:
What good is a vaccine when you can’t afford it? #FreeTheVaccine
Our taxes paid for it already #FreeTheVaccine
No one should poor because they are sick or sick because they are poor. #FreeTheVaccine
It takes one minute, and it helps get the word out.
Don’t forget to snap a picture and tag @uaem_meds4people on Instagram, or @uaem on Twitter! And of course, use the hashtag #FreeTheVaccine.
If you’re looking for an explanation of why the status quo for innovation failed in this pandemic, and why it will do so again (unless we change things)…
Read this op-ed in STAT News by Tahir Amin and Rohit Malpani on how COVID-19 has exposed the limitations of the pharmaceutical model.
If you want to learn about a federal bill the pharmaceutical industry is pushing, which would allow companies to exploit the current crisis…
Read this op-ed in The Guardian by Chris Morten and Alex Moss, who explain the Coons-Tillis bill, what it means in the broader context of patent law, and why it would be disastrous for public health.
On May 18th, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines launched PublicMeds4Covid.Org, a project tracking public investment in research on COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines around the world. The mapping, which was widely shared by scientists and activists alike, will also guide the work of participants in our Salk Labs as they select targets and push for a return on the public’s investment. Check out the mapping, and see if you can find any institutions you have a personal connection to!
73rd World Health Assembly
On May 18th and 19th, World Health Organization Member States convened over Zoom for the 73rd World Health Assembly. In their statements on the COVID-19 resolution, many countries emphasized the importance of access to diagnostics, vaccines, and treatment, including India, Austria, Algeria, Germany, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Argentina; several argued that the vaccine should be a “global public good.” The resolution, which was adopted by the Assembly, named immunizations as a global public good but unfortunately did not extend that label to vaccines.
On the bright side, the resolution maintained its reference to TRIPS flexibilities, which allow countries to prioritize public health over patent rights—despite the opposition of the United State. In their interventions, civil society groups including Médecins Sans Frontières International, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, and Knowledge Ecology International emphasized the importance of freeing diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines from intellectual property restrictions, and the need for commitment from member states to ensuring access and affordability. For those seeking more information about how international politics played out at the World Health Assembly, this short five-minute audio clip offers a great summary.
COVID-19 Technology Pool
On May 15th, the World Health Organization and Costa Rica announced progress on the development of a technology pool, which we have mentioned in previous newsletters. The technology pool would facilitate the voluntary, nonexclusive licensing of COVID-related intellectual property, accelerating innovation and enabling affordable access around the world. The platform will officially launch on May 29th, at which time governments and institutions will be able to formally announce their public support. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more!
This week, we asked our participants to reflect and catch up, taking a survey on the campaign so far, reading each other’s mission reports, and mapping their own progress. Participants also used this week’s webinar—which featured a role play of how to talk to university administrators about the Open COVID Pledge—as inspiration for continued advocacy. We’d like to catch you up on some of the creative actions that have come out of our Labs this week, as well as work going on behind the scenes!
But before you read any further, I want to highlight our new logo, created by Falcon Lab member Nancy Nowacek! How cool is this? We think it captures the spirit of our campaign so well.
This week, we’d like to share some more highlights from our mission reports that showcase creative actions our Labs are planning—and how actions evolve as our squads reach their targets! Their mission this week was to iterate and steal: to repeat actions with new targets, and to borrow strategy and tactics from other Labs after reading their Mission Reports. In order to track their progress, Labs were asked to identify where they currently are on our Progress Map, and to decide where they can go next.
Newly elected Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, May 24, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse - RTX37CKB
Images of Senator Bernie Sanders and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director, Anthony Fauci, from the Senate hearing on May 12th.
On May 12th, the Senate held a hearing on “COVID-19: Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School,” chaired by Senator Lamar Alexander. At the hearing, Senator Bernie Sanders questioned FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn: “I would imagine that that vaccine would be distributed to all people free of charge, or make sure at least that everybody in America who needs that vaccine will get it regardless of their income. Is that a fair assumption?” Hahn was evasive in his response, just as other U.S. officials (including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar) have been regarding access to the vaccine.
April 16, 2020: This article in The Lancet explains how an intellectual property pool could be used to ensure access worldwide, supporting the proposal made by Costa Rica.
April 27, 2020: Mariana Mazzucato, University College London professor, and Els Torreele, Executive Director of the Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) Access Campaign, explain how specific intellectual property, manufacturing, and procurement policies can ensure equitable access to a vaccine around the world.
How Patents Can Hurt Access to Coronavirus Vaccines and Treatment
June 1, 2014: This article in Jacobin Magazine explains how the Bayh-Dole Act has been used to privatize publicly-funded academic research, to the detriment of patients and the quality of science overall.
April 15, 2020: In The Guardian, access to medicines experts Achal Prabhala and Ellen ‘t Hoen explain how patent thickets could restrict access to the most promising treatments for coronavirus.
April 23, 2020: Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, economics professor Arjun Jayadev, and access to medicines advocate Achal Prabhala explain why patent reform is necessary to combat the pandemic.
October 10, 2016: This post from Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders explains why drug and vaccine donations are not a substitute for measures that can actually lower prices.
Want a simple way to join one of our creative actions? It’s easy–just plant something, or find a plant you can use. Then follow the steps in the infographic below to dedicate the plant to a researcher working on COVID-19!
If you’re having trouble thinking of a scientist, feel free to dedicate it to any of the researchers who have already noticed us: Dr. Jethro Herberg from Imperial College, Prof. Pollard of Oxford University, Marcin Drag at Wroclaw University, Prof. Kev Dhaliwal of Edinburgh Medical School, or Dr Hirani of Edinburgh Medical School. Don’t forget to tag @covidplants on Twitter or @covidresearchchampions on Instagram so we can reshare your photo!
Below are some images we’ve shared so far of the plants with their dedication labels!
This piece in The New Republic is a comprehensive look at our biomedical R&D system, how it has failed people in the pandemic, and how it might be reimagined to better serve public health needs. The piece quotes a number of experts on access to medicines, including our very own Free The Vaccine project manager and UAEM Executive Director, Merith Basey!
On the same day, a group of world leaders convened by the European Union committed over 8 billion USD to research on the COVID-19 vaccine. At the virtual event, French president Emmanuel Macron said that any vaccine developed as a result of this funding partnership “won’t belong to anybody” and that “access will be given to people around the globe.” However, EU officials clarified that pharmaceutical companies that receive any of this 8 billion USD in public funding will not be asked to forgo intellectual property rights, but simply to commit to an affordable price worldwide—which has not been clearly defined yet and may not be truly affordable, particularly in low-income countries. At the same event, the Executive Board Chair of Unitaid stated that countries need to “learn from the positive experience of the Medicines Patent Pool in making HIV treatments available to most of those who need them and support the implementation of a global voluntary pooling mechanism for Covid-19 related technologies, as proposed by World Health Organization and the President of Costa Rica.” We hope world leaders will listen, and commit to alternative intellectual property strategies that ensure affordability worldwide.
The Vaccine Alliance proposes advanced market commitment
On May 4th, Gavi proposed an advance market commitment as a strategy to ensure an adequate supply of the COVID-19 vaccine. In an advance market commitment model, governments agree in advance to buy a large quantity of a vaccine at a set price from manufacturers, avoiding shortage due to supply and demand. However, advanced market commitments are often proposed to avoid action that directly addresses affordability, and if the proposed “set price” is too high, many governments will not be able to afford the supply their people need—and taxpayers are still footing the bill. In addition, reliance on only a few manufacturers can further exacerbate the problems that monopolies cause for affordability and access. We are therefore watching the discourse around advance market commitments with caution, and hope to emphasize that these models cannot replace real guarantees of affordability.
