AMI have issued a letter to Irish Research Organisations calling for pro-public safeguards to be attached to COVID-19 research funding that will ensure accessibility and affordability of end result products.
Access to Medicines Ireland,
Comhlámh,
Parliament Street,
Dublin 2,
31st March 2020.
To:
Mr Darrin Morrissey, Chief Executive, Health Research Board.
Mr Peter Brown, Director, Irish Research Council.
Prof Mark Ferguson, Director General, Science Foundation Ireland.
Ms Julie Sinnamon, Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Ireland.
Mr Martin Shanahan, Chief Executive Officer, IDA Ireland.
Dear All,
I write to draw your attention to the importance of pro-public safeguards in the funding of research for medical treatments for Covid-19 in Ireland.
In recent days, our campaign group, Access to Medicines Ireland, has published a letter in the Irish Times (27th March), co-signed a letter to EU leaders by the European Alliance for Responsible R&D and Affordable Medicines (25th March) and will hold a live Web Conference (7th April) entitled “Adapting to Covid-19: Defending the Public Interest In Vaccine and Medical Development” on this issue. I enclose details below.
In these initiatives, we call on national and European leaders, research and development organisations, and the pharmaceutical industry, to provide diagnostics, equipment, medical treatments and vaccines for the Covid-19 response which are “timely, adequate and affordable,” and use “fair and equitable allocation mechanisms based on public health needs,” to quote the WHO Blueprint on R&D and the WHO Global Research Roadmap, which your calls reference.
I would ask you to make clear your position in regard to pro public safeguards and whether there are binding clauses and mechanisms which will ensure that end-products for Covid-19 treatment and prevention developed in Ireland adhere to these principles?
For its part, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)’s affordability criteria, in its February 2020 call for vaccine technologies, are clear: “Supporting the development of vaccines that can prevent or stop an outbreak is a key part of CEPI’s mission. An equally critical part of the mission is to ensure that the vaccine is available and equally accessible to those who need them. Thus, in addition to the criteria of speed and versatility the vaccine technology must be able to be delivered to individuals easily in an outbreak setting and to be at a cost of goods that does not preclude broad access. See CEPI’s Policies for more detail.”
We welcome the emphasis that has been placed on information-sharing in the calls for Irish research but we urge you to move to criteria “to be at a cost of goods that does not preclude broad access,” as CEPI stipulates, as a matter of urgency.
Clearly, we are operating in an unprecedented public emergency and these requirements are urgently needed to protect the public interest of all who will require these treatments and of all citizens who have contributed to their development.
We would welcome the opportunity to engage with you on this issue. Recently, our members have sponsored resolutions of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), agreed a joint position with the Irish Midwives and Nurses Organisation (INMO) and engaged with the Houses of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health.
We invite you to listen to some of the leading Irish and international experts speak on this issue at our web conference on 7th April, and we urgently await your reply.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Kieran Harkin, MRCPI, MICGP,
Access to Medicines Ireland.
Contact: drkharkin@inchicoredoctors.ie
CC:
Joe McHugh TD, Minister for Education and Skills.
Simon Harris TD, Minister for Health.
Links:
Irish Times letter: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/coronavirus-a-time-for-concerted-action-1.4213215?mode=amp
European Alliance for Responsible R&D and Affordable Medicines: https://medicinesalliance.eu/the-fight-against-covid-19-lets-make-public-investments-count-for-people/
Invitation to Access to Ireland Live Web Conference on 7th April: https://mailchi.mp/38bf0bdf9bde/ami-2020-live-web-conference