People are suffering, companies are making money
Article by Yiorgos Georgiou, AKEL MEP
Sunday 4th October 2020, “HARAVGI” newspaper
With the outbreak of the pandemic, the race to develop the vaccine began. Science, of course, would have been better prepared if innovation and research were not determined by the financial interests of the pharmaceutical companies. Researchers have been issuing warnings for years, but the pharmaceutical industry rejected scientific proposals to confront pandemics, as they were not considered to be profitable investments. Today they are working day and night to develop a vaccine and the competition between them is fierce, as the profits promised by the enormous pandemic market are staggering.
The discovery of the vaccine is very important. Equally important, however, is that we ensure that the vaccine will be effective and available to all the people. Lots of money has been allocated from the public coffers and we mustn’t permit the companies to reap the benefits of the researches by imposing patents and making the vaccine a new commercial product for the maximization of profits.
As AKEL, together with the Political Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left in the European Parliament, we have launched an all-European campaign (www.right2cure.eu), urging the European Commission to proceed to the submission of strict legislation which should safeguard that the vaccines and therapies to confront the coronavirus pandemic will be registered as a public good, freely accessible to all the people. Furthermore, together with other progressive MEP’s, we have sent a letter to the Health Ministers of EU member states, as well as to the EU Health Commissioner and the European Medicines Agency, submitting in writing our demands:
– Contracts and agreements concluded with pharmaceutical companies for the manufacture and purchase of COVID-19 vaccines should be published and made known to the public.
– Full transparency must be guaranteed regarding the results of clinical trials and research protocols.
– The highest regulatory standards should be implemented to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the proposed vaccines.
– There should be a commitment to the COVAX initiative, in addition to the announced contribution, and a global strategy for just, equitable and economically affordable access of all the people to COVID-19 vaccine and treatment should be backed.
– A clause for open licensing and copyright rights should be included in all contracts for the allocation of public funding to support research and development of vaccines against COVID-19.
– All agreements regarding the exemption of the pharmaceutical industry from civil liability and the possibility of financial compensation to companies that develop vaccines against COVID-19 should be cancelled.
– People should be fully informed on how payments in advance that have been allocated so far have been utilized by public funds
We should finally force them to face up to their responsibilities, demanding that they give clear answers on how they have managed the crisis so far. Who supplies the masks? Who is conducting the tests and how much profit are they making? Who and how will they undertake the vaccinations and at what cost to citizens? What measures have been taken to provide effective support to public hospitals and health professionals and workers who have proven their irreplaceable role?
We mustn’t allow them to continue to treasure up for themselves at the expense of the peoples. Public health must at long last be put over private profits.
