Coronavirus – a time for concerted action

Access to Medicines Ireland wrote to The Irish Times calling for a collaborated effort to safeguard the affordability and accessibility of future COVID-19 treatments and vaccines.

Sir, – Much of the discussion regarding the development of medical treatment for Covid-19 has taken place without reference to the political economy of pharmaceutical development. It, therefore, risks many ethical, as well as economic, shortcomings.

The EU Alliance for Responsible Medicines has written to EU leaders seeking that, for Covid-19, all “necessary medical tools are free of charge at the point of delivery, particularly for vulnerable populations”. Its letter continues: “With public health system resources already overstretched, economic sustainability should not be further imperilled by excessive prices of medicines and vaccines.”

Meanwhile, in the US, members of Congress have written to President Donald Trump seeking to ensure that any vaccine or treatment developed in America for Covid-19 “is accessible, available and affordable”, although this has not been enshrined in US legislation.

It is essential that these messages are not overlooked.

Calls for research on diagnostics, treatments and vaccine development, including in Ireland, must contain “affordability clauses” and restrictions to exclusive patents.

If not, many of the pharmaceutical companies that are leading the race to supply vaccines for Covid-19 will continue to charge exorbitantly high prices for their products. To treat this pandemic quickly and effectively, we must break with this failed market model now. – Yours, etc,

Dr KIERAN HARKIN,

Access to Medicines Ireland,

Comhlámh,

Parliament Street,

Dublin 2.

Article: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/coronavirus-a-time-for-concerted-action-1.4213215

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