Brochure | February 2021 | Download PDF
The COVID-19 pandemic, that continues to wreak havoc across health systems in the Global North and South alike, has shone a light on the issue of access to medicines and COVID vaccines in a manner without precedent. We have seen world leaders using phrases like “global public good” and “equitable access” in a way that may have been thought unthinkable not so long ago.
We have also witnessed how public support for early research can result in life-saving products, such as effective vaccines, in a very short period of time. And yet the pharmaceutical industry seems happy to perpetuate a status quo that lacks transparency and relies on a broken system of intellectual property rights and patent-based monopolies as a means to fill their pockets rather than deliver on the promise and moral responsibility of access to affordable medicines for everyone, everywhere.
However, civil society has the opportunity to demonstrate why there can be no “business as usual” as we move to the future, and we at Health Action International will re-double our efforts to drive policy that uses all available legitimate tools at the disposal of governments and public institutions to improve access to safe, effective and affordable medicines in Europe and beyond.
In this brochure, you can find out more about our plans, activities and events in Europe over the next year to do just this. We discuss our priorities, including:
- Embedding transparency in policies and practice,
- Promoting TRIPS flexibilities and other tools to manage IP,
- Improving Access to Clinical Trial Data and,
- Countering the Deleterious Impact of Pharma Promotion
Read the full brochure discussing Transparency, Accountability and Access to COVID vaccines.