Schedule European Summer University 2022

The pandemic has seen huge inequality in vaccine access thanks to a system that puts pharmaceutical companies’ monopolies before people’s health. Campaigns to suspend intellectual property rights on vaccines have grown and alternatives are emerging. Where does the struggle go from here for a democratic global health system?

Two years after the outbreak of the pandemic, 85% of people in low-income countries still do not have access to a Covid-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, the big pharmaceutical companies are making record profits. The main vaccines have all relied on huge amounts of public funds that the pharmaceutical companies have privatised, patented and monopolised. This system, which rewards companies like Pfizer for keeping their vaccine recipes secret, also prevents manufacturers in the Global South from producing their own vaccines.

Campaigns for change have grown and more than 100 countries are supporting efforts to lift intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines.

A WHO-supported project in South Africa has reverse engineered the Moderna vaccine. The Cuban vaccine and an off-patent vaccine from the US also suggest that a better system is possible. Meanwhile, planning for future pandemics has newly inspired thoughts on access to public medical research. The monopoly system of the big pharmaceutical companies is starting to crack. How can we organise ourselves in order to capitalise on this development?

Info

Day: 2022-08-19
Start time: 10:00
Duration: 01:45
Room: W300 Organization:
Track: Capitalism, health and social crisis
Language: en

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