“We are failing”: WHO director complains again about inequity in vaccine distribution

“I always feel like we are failing,” he admitted. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, CEO of World Health Organization (WHO), complaining about the inequality that exists in the distribution of vaccines against Covid19. Since the confrontation with Donald trump, through the role of the mechanism COVAX, until his request to the patent release laboratories for immunizations against coronavirus, the Ethiopian does not shrink from the controversy.

In an interview with the prestigious international magazine Science, the former Minister of Health of Ethiopia analyzed the progress of pandemic and once again showed his disgust at the inequitable distribution of vaccines: “I always feel like we fail.

“When I was Minister of Health I saw two world failures: the HIV, where low-income countries obtained the drugs 10 years after their discovery; and the flu pandemic H1N1 (influenza A) with vaccines did not reach these countries. When the Covid-19 appeared I remembered these things and we said: ‘We must not repeat the same mistake‘. This is why the idea of ​​this ACT accelerator and the COVAX mechanism was born. Having eight vaccines licensed in a year is unprecedented, but we fail in the fairness of its distribution», Analyzed Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

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In this sense, the head of the WHO reflected on the idea that the nations that are part of the organization generate a pandemic treaty and admitted that the biggest challenge in front of the scientists was that of “Share“Both information, data and biological material, in addition to achieving global coordination to deal with the virus.

“If we had a treaty, the impact of all these challenges could have been resolved or minimized., especially if it is binding. We need to have a framework that really tells the world and everyone involved what to do, ”the Ethiopian said, adding,“ We ​​need to calm down. draw a clear roadmap. I hope the world at large takes these recommendations seriously and identifies areas that we can address. to prevent the next pandemic or to detect it early and manage and minimize the impact”.

Donald Trump versus. WHO

In another part of the interview, Adhanom Ghebreyesus recalled his confrontation with Donald trump and assured that their differences started from who refused a request: “It was something that this organization should not be doing and we said, ‘No’. That was the problem, then they criticized us for not being independent. But if we say no to unfair demands and questions, it is independence. “

However, when referring to the management of Joe biden the former Ethiopian Minister of Health assured that “everything has changed”. “Since the first day, when you have overturned the decision (to withdraw funds) from WHO, showed his commitment Yes The United States has made the biggest contribution to vaccine donations. We hope other leaders will follow suit, ”he said.

The origin of SARS-CoV-2

One of the points on which the WHO has been put under the magnifying glass was the origin of SARS-CoV-2. Here, the biggest critic of the international body’s position was Trump, who classified Covid-19 as the “Chinese virus” disease.

“In studying the origin (of the virus), we explained what the challenges and we said there was not enough cooperation with the raw dataespecially the first few days, but we put pressure on them. At the same time, because the laboratory hypothesis was not well developed we said they were all openBut if there is a problem that the WHO needs to be clear about, we say it. We treat China the same as we treat all countries“he claimed.

Patent release

For months, international leaders in politics and science began to ask the release of patents for vaccines against Covid-19. However, in the words of the head of WHO himself, the drugs they assure that they are hampered to specify it because “even if they transfer the technology, the problem is that there are multiple patent holders”.

“The intellectual property exemption is an option and it is essential, especially in an emergency. Even the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement or TRIPS) contains a provision allowing the exemption to be applied under emergency conditions. In unprecedented situations, unprecedented action must be taken“said Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In this sense, although he declares himself a “strong supporter of intellectual property”, he admitted that he proposed to offer incentives and compensation to laboratories in order to free patents. “Companies also have a social responsibility, it concerns everyone. They can make a profit with 99% of their drugs, it would be 1%The Ethiopian said, while admitting that before the drug companies’ rejection had mixed feelings: “I was surprised, but not entirely.

The role of the COVAX mechanism

the Global Covid-19 Vaccine Access Fund, better known as the mechanism COVAX, emerged as a system that would allow more equitable distribution of vaccines. However, the aspirations of the WHO are still far from being realized, according to several officials of the international organization.

This is why Tedros assured that when COVAX says that they will send doses to cover “at least 20% of the population of the countries”, it is in fact “the base” that they will promote. “The end result will depend on the continents, regions or nations, which may have their own goals ”.

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Even to show its position on the inequity in the distribution of vaccines, which COVAX seeks to correct, Adhanom Ghebreyesus assured to have waited for the start of vaccination in his country. “I know where i belong: a poor nation called Ethiopia, which is on a poor continent: Africa. I may have been lucky enough to get the vaccine first, but wanted to wait for low-income countries to start immunizing“, He assured.

“I am a health worker and I belong to one of the risk groups, so when they started to vaccinate these groups in Africa, I thought it was my turn,” said the head of the group. WHO and concluded: “I always feel like we are failing and upon receiving my vaccine I was disappointed”.