Vaccine Apartheid: Perspectives from a Kenyan Doctor

Posted on March 1, 2023March 8, 2023

I was breathless, flushed, and worn out – symptoms that were consistent with the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus. Or perhaps signs of sheer exhaustion from my 24-hour shift in the Kenyan critical COVID ward while wearing the required heavy, tight, personal protective attire. I contemplated going in for my second PCR test for the week, while thoughts of fear clouded my mind. Will I infect my loved ones while I treat the loved ones of others? Will I fall terribly ill and…

African scientists say Western aid to fight pandemic is backfiring. Here’s their plan

Posted on November 10, 2022December 23, 2022

Global health inequities are inevitable, according to virologist and former president of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences Oyewale Tomori. “The WHO is,” says Tomori, “well, I know the W stands for World, but sometimes I think it stands for White.” Dr. Tomori shared that he was not surprised that high-income countries were buying up monkeypox vaccine supplies and that WHO was sharing its vaccines with 30 non-African countries, leaving the continent without access. Fed up with their countries’ inadequate responses to Ebola, COVID-19, and…

[VIDEO] Are Vaccines Really That Accessible?

Medical Apartheid

Posted on September 25, 2022October 11, 2022

We are 16 months into the COVID-19 pandemic and about a year into the discussion to waiver the intellectual property rights for manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine. In May 2020, the World Health Organization launched the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) after a request from the president of Costa Rica for voluntary arrangement by the owners of intellectual property and other forms of knowledge, clinical data and know-how relevant to the development and manufacture of diagnostic tests, devices, medicines, or vaccines…

Zika, forgotten and forsaken: Global North’s lack of interest leaves vulnerable families stranded

Medical Apartheid

Posted on August 16, 2022December 14, 2023

The New York Times reveals that as soon as it became clear that Zika wouldn’t ravage the Global North, funding and attention dwindled, leaving impoverished communities to suffer in silence. Sadly, those in lower socioeconomic classes are hit the hardest, with little hope of relief. And just when they needed it most, the COVID-19 pandemic diverted much-needed resources and attention away from this critical issue. It seems the global health community has once again abandoned a vital cause to pursue…

WTO deal on vaccine patents called a ‘sham’ dictated by big Pharma

Medical Apartheid Vaccine Apartheid

Posted on June 19, 2022December 14, 2023

“Once again, the shameful, undemocratic WTO process allowed rich countries representing corporate interests to strongarm a sham agreement that bears no resemblance to the original waiver proposal and will do nothing to help save lives for this or future pandemics,” says Melinda St. Louis, Global Trade Watch. “The worldwide movement….will not throw in the towel just because WTO members decided to today.” Max Lawson of the People’s Vaccine Alliance adds “This is absolutely not the broad intellectual property waiver the…

Global South responsibility to utilize TRIPS waiver

Medical Apartheid

Posted on May 18, 2022May 18, 2022

May 6 2022 interview with Achal Probhala, Indian Coordinator of the AccessIBSA project, which campaigns for access to medicines in India, Brazil and South Africa. Democracy Now! https://www.democracynow.org/2022/5/6/who_finds_15_million_pandemic_deaths India and South Africa, about a year and a half ago, went to the World Trade Organization to ask for a pause, a temporary suspension of pharmaceutical monopolies, so that not just vaccines but things like Paxlovid, the new wonder drug from Pfizer, that, if taken a few days after being diagnosed…

Apartheid logic in global health

Medical Apartheid Apartheid COVID-19 inequity Vaccine Apartheid

Posted on May 7, 2022June 7, 2023

Mosoka Fallah and Eric Reinhart provide an excellent historical perspective on the global apartheid of HIV treatment in the 1990s and early 2000s as a backdrop to understanding the abject failure to provide COVID-19 prevention and care to the disenfranchised peoples of the world. They point out how such efforts perpetuate the “quasi-colonial humanitarian playgrounds of billionaire philanthropists, western officials, and corporate interests that have shaped the modus operandi of global health for too long.” A short read that should…

Omicron: The variant that Vaccine Apartheid built

Medical Apartheid

Posted on March 19, 2022March 19, 2022

Her December 2021 article describes the racialized inequities of vaccine access, how black and brown people are told to wait, last in line. Philanthropy can’t buy equity. Global solidarity is key. https://www.justsecurity.org/79403/omicron-the-variant-that-vaccine-apartheid-built/www.test.com

Biggest Roadblock to Biden-Convened COVID-19 Summit’s Success: Fealty to Moderna and Pfizer – Linked Article

Medical Apartheid

Posted on January 25, 2022February 8, 2022

ORGINAL ARTICLE: Please see the original article by Asia Russell, Jessica Bassett and Brook Baker from Health Gap published on 9/20/2021. COMMENT BY GLOBAL HEALTH JUSTICE TEAM Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, political officials and global health professionals have blindly trusted Pfizer and Moderna to work towards the more equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Now more than a year since the distribution of their first vaccine doses, Pfizer and Moderna have continued to prioritize profit over human life. Big pharma’s failure to equitably distribute…