Equitable Access to COVID-19 Vaccination: A Distant Dream?

The race to produce a safe and efficacious vaccine for COVID-19 has been on-going and there are indications that success may not be too far away.

Wealthy nations are trying to secure early access to COVID-19 vaccine for their populations. COVID-19 has highlighted the large-scale politicization and illegitimate power games around the development of an effective vaccine. The concern of the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) and of the global public health community is the tendency for the rich to acquire and pay for the limited supply of available efficacious vaccines to the detriment of the at-risk populations in low-income settings.

Read full story to equip yourself with the proposed solutions provided by members of our “International Immunisation Policy Task Force“.

Being Rich and Sick Is Much Better than Being Poor and Sick!

With more vaccines on the way, we can see an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it remains to be seen how the vaccines will be distributed.

Implementing the letter which our member the Norwegian Public Health Association has sent to Norwegian government, Dr Geir Lende a Chief Consultant in the department of orthopaedic surgery at the Stavanger University Hospital in Norway urges equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines.

COVID-19 Vaccination: A Question about Global Equity in Health

COVID-19 has had no respect for borders!

Vaccines against COVID-19 will be a scarce good, at least for some time ahead. Therefore, both in order to achieve the best possible population effect and to ensure that unequal distribution of the vaccines shall not exacerbate the existing skewed distribution of the burden of this disease, thorough elaboration of the implementation strategies for vaccination programmes must be considered.

A global programme is necessary to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control and to ensure that the devastating effects of the pandemic can be minimised, particularly taking differences in health status into account.

Our member the Norwegian Public Health Association has sent a letter and asked the Norwegian government to make clear, to local and regional authorities, health personnel and the population in general, that it is not enough to aim vaccination at the protection of the nation’s own population.

The letter is available in Norwegian and English.

16th World Congress on Public Health: Personal Experiences

In October, several interns from the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) were invited to help organize and attend the virtual 16th World Congress on Public Health (WCPH 2020). In the past, we had only ever attended on-site conferences and short, online webinar sessions. By comparison, the remote WCPH 2020 had a fully packed schedule that spanned a week. We did not know what to expect but were excited by the prospects of this unique, virtual experience.

When entering the congress’ online platform, we were immediately impressed to see so many in-depth and interactive features. From a large poster hall, to various programming options, networking platforms, and more the online forum included everything needed to create a memorable experience. A key feature that helped foster collaboration and communication between participants included the ability to share personal data and interests with others. It was incredible to see a diverse group of public health professionals and advocates from other sectors meet on the virtual platform. As interns, it was exciting to connect with prominent public health figures, especially those who have played a formative role in developing our interests as young professionals in the field.

Multiple program options allowed attendees to choose sessions related to a broad range of topics. In particular, we enjoyed attending the live sessions, in which the chat function allowed for participants to ask panelists questions in real-time, as well as the opportunity for greater interaction with one another. We also appreciated how the topics presented were relevant to the current public health circumstances and represented global perspectives. Hearing about similar public health challenges from around the world proved the importance of fostering outreach beyond national borders to promote advocacy and action. Despite being physically distant from each other, we felt that the virtual WCPH 2020 united many different stakeholders to tackle the current global pandemic.

As students, we have studied health promotion and preventative public health measures. With our educational backgrounds, it was amazing to hear speakers highlight the need for interdisciplinary collaboration, especially within the main plenary sessions and ‘World Leadership Dialogues’. The WCPH 2020 featured multisectoral viewpoints in practical approaches on how public health can be considered in policy development and implementation. For instance, one workshop discussed partnerships with the private sector to combat non-communicable diseases. In the discussion, speakers emphasized the importance of implementing policy packages instead of individual interventions within the food industry. We learned that health professionals need to ensure that the private sector does not justify their actions by blaming individuals and holding them entirely responsible for their own consumption choices. Instead of increasing stigma, structural prevention and policy regulations are needed to create a healthy food environment.

Overall, we feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend such an inspiring and informative event. The WCPH 2020 has inspired us as young public health professionals, and we are looking forward to seeing the impact of our discussions in future public health efforts across the world.

WFPHA Supports the Proposal for the Temporary Suspension of Intellectual Property Rights for Necessary Products to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic!

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) has sent an open letter to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Secretary-General of the United Nations (SG-UN) to support the proposal for the temporary suspension of Intellectual Property Rights for necessary products to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

On December 9, a session of the TRIPS Council of the WTO will be held. The main discussion issue will be the proposal submitted by South Africa and India and co-sponsored by Kenya and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) to adopt a “waiver”, a temporary suspension of intellectual property rights of applicable knowledge to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a waiver would be subject to the protections available through patents, copyrights, undisclosed information projection, integrated circuits and enforcement, as provided in WTO agreements for exceptional situations such as the COVID-19 public health pandemic.

The proposal seeks to resolve the restrictions by low, lower-middle, and higher-middle income countries (as defined by The World Bank) to have timely affordable access under competitive market conditions to COVID-19 diagnostic kits, medical devices such as respirators and particularly vaccines and medicines to combat the virus. A pandemic cannot be resolved in a small number of countries.

The widest possible access internationally is required to bring the COVID-19 pandemic to an end.

WFPHA Supports ACUERDO NACIONAL POR LA SALUD PÚBLICA DEL ECUADOR! 

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) publicly express its full support to the ACUERDO NACIONAL POR LA SALUD PÚBLICA DEL ECUADOR which adopts principles that are in line with the ethical value of health as a universal human right and promotes evidence-based policies and strategies.

The ACUERDO has been proposed by the Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Salud Pública and others health-related communities’ and professionals’ associations.