{"id":8913,"date":"2021-10-01T11:57:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T09:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vivasalud.be\/?p=8913"},"modified":"2021-10-15T15:01:12","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T13:01:12","slug":"charity-wont-get-us-very-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vivasalud.be\/en\/blog\/2021\/10\/01\/la-charite-ne-nous-menera-pas-loin\/","title":{"rendered":"Charity won\u2019t get us very far"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Belgian government wants to improve global access to vaccines through a charitable strategy. However, according to 24 Belgian organisations (see below), this will not be enough.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday 27 September, the Minister for Development Cooperation, Meryame Kitir, visited Li\u00e8ge Airport to mark the departure of a consignment of coronavirus vaccines, destined for low-income countries via the mechanism COVAX<\/a>. The initiative is understandable, given his role as Minister for Development Cooperation, but it will not change the global vaccine apartheid. Just like the weak resolution passed by the Vivaldi majority in the Federal Parliament on 23 September. Charity and empty rhetoric are at the forefront of our government\u2019s strategy. However, this will not help us overcome the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gap between the rich and the poor remains enormous. In the 29 poorest countries, home to around 9% of the world\u2019s population, barely 0.3% of the total number of vaccines has been delivered. Across the whole of Africa, less than 4 % of the population has been fully vaccinated. The global vaccination campaign is therefore a failure across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coronavirus has free rein<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every day, between 6,000 and 10,000 people worldwide are still losing their lives to Covid-19. The World Health Organisation is currently monitoring six different variants of the virus. These could also pose serious problems. In an international survey carried out earlier this year, two-thirds of the virologists questioned warned that current vaccines will not provide protection against new mutations of the virus emerging over the coming year. This figure can only be interpreted as a clear warning of the urgent need to bring the pandemic under control worldwide as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our government and the leaders of other wealthy countries claim to be pursuing this objective. At the United Nations General Assembly, one promising statement followed another. On 24 September, US President Joe Biden presented himself as a benefactor on the world stage, promising 500 million additional vaccines to speed up the global vaccination campaign. Our Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, for his part, stated that vaccine solidarity is an essential condition for overcoming the pandemic. But let\u2019s be honest. A donation of 4 million vaccines is merely a drop in the ocean on a global scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too little, too late<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Above all, it is too little, too late. Moreover, this pledge lacks credibility: the vast majority of previous pledges have not yet been fulfilled. Barely 15 % of the billion doses that high-income countries pledged to donate have reached Africa. COVAX, the mechanism aimed at vaccinating healthcare workers and vulnerable groups in low-income countries this year, is half a billion doses short of its already modest target. Worse still, the EU is importing more vaccines from Africa, in net terms, than it is donating. Indeed, research carried out by the New York Times shows that Johnson & Johnson put pressure on the South African government to export vaccines to the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A goldmine for Big Pharma, a public health disaster<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry\u2019s profit model remains intact. Whilst leaders of rich countries were making grand statements about international solidarity, the big pharmaceutical companies were seeing their turnover reach record highs. Thanks to their monopoly on coronavirus vaccines \u2013 the development of which was supported by $100 billion of taxpayers\u2019 money from various countries \u2013 Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech generated over $26 billion in sales in the first half of 2021. For Moderna and BioNTech, two-thirds of this amount is pure profit. According to the People\u2019s Vaccine Alliance, at least nine people have become billionaires thanks to the pharmaceutical industry\u2019s enormous profits since the start of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, Big Pharma\u2019s business model \u2013 receiving billions of euros in public funds, charging exorbitant prices for life-saving medicines and paying little tax \u2013 is a goldmine for investors and corporate executives. But it is a disaster for global public health. It is plunging certain regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia into new crises, pushing weakened health systems to the brink of collapse and causing tens of thousands of preventable deaths every week. According to Amnesty International, Big Pharma is fuelling an unprecedented human rights crisis. It is therefore urgent that we adopt a different approach. False promises and charity have no place here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting the vaccine in the hands of the public<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the United Nations General Assembly, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez was clear about the first step. In his view, \u00abwe must resolve the bottlenecks in the production and distribution of vaccines, in particular through a temporary waiver of patents on coronavirus vaccines\u00bb. Our government should support this call in Europe and join the hundred or so countries that are advocating the TRIPS waiver<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the European Citizens\u00ab Initiative \u00bbNo Profit from the Pandemic\u2019<\/u><\/a>, 31,000 Belgians are already calling for COVID-19 vaccines to be made available to the public. Next, we must focus on knowledge and technology transfer. In this way, we can rapidly scale up vaccine production. And in the long term, we will strengthen the development of local production facilities worldwide. These measures will enable production to be tailored to local health needs. They will make the population less dependent on the profit-seeking of Western pharmaceutical companies. Which, after all, is no small matter in a pandemic situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The European Citizens\u2019 Initiative \u2018No Profit from the Pandemic\u2019 aims to collect one million signatures across Europe to compel the European Commission to take action and make the coronavirus vaccine available to the public. You can sign the initiative here: https:\/\/noprofitonpandemic.eu\/fr\/<\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signatories:<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  • Wim De Ceukelaire, Viva Salud<\/li>
  • Jean Hermesse, Health & Solidarity Action Platform<\/li>
  • Yves Hellendorf, non-commercial CNE<\/li>
  • Bart Verstraeten, WSM<\/li>
  • Elies Van Belle, Memisa<\/li>
  • Stefaan Bonte, Doctors Without Holidays<\/li>
  • Elisabeth Degryse, Mutualit\u00e9 Chr\u00e9tienne<\/li>
  • Ariane Estenne, Christian Workers\u2019 Movement<\/li>
  • Karim Zahidi, Masereel Fund<\/li>
  • Koen Meesters, LCA<\/li>
  • Koen De Maeseneir, VWGC<\/li>
  • Filip De Bodt, Climaxi vzw<\/li>
  • Michel Vanhoorne, FGE<\/li>
  • Mario Franssen, ManiFiesta<\/li>
  • Nina Henkens, Kif Kif vzw<\/li>
  • Anne Delespaul, Medicine for the People, European Citizens\u2019 Initiative: No Profit from the Pandemic<\/li>
  • H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Debaisieux, Quinoa<\/li>
  • Marijke Persoone, Something Completely Different<\/li>
  • Christine Mahy, Walloon Network for the Fight against Poverty<\/li>
  • Yahy\u00e2 Hachem Samii, Brussels Mental Health League<\/li>
  • C\u00e9line Nieuwenhuys, Federation of Social Services<\/li>
  • Fran\u00e7ois Perl, Solidaris<\/li>
  • Nathalie Lionnet, SETCa<\/li>
  • Beweging.net<\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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