- Dec 8, 2013
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May 5, 2020
By Annabelle Timsit
Geopolitics reporter
Even before it launched, however, the fundraising drive was controversial. First, EU officials allowed countries to pledge money that they had already spent on Covid-19 relief since Jan. 30, as opposed to counting only new funds as part of the recorded pledges. The Commission also hasn’t clarified on its website how much of the countries’ pledges are made up of new funds versus old ones.
Then, some civil society groups questioned how the EU would distribute the money raised. While $8 billion is a lot of money to pour into research, the EU has so far refused to impose price caps on pharmaceutical manufacturers, or force companies that receive public funds to give up their intellectual property—through mandatory licensing, for example, or less drastically, patent pools or cross-licensing—so that drugs and vaccines can be mass-produced cheaply.
And, while the guest list for this event was a who’s-who of global health governance, the US was noticeably absent, even though it is home to the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, many of which are now leading the race to develop a vaccine for Covid-19. The world’s biggest superpower, in essence, contributed less to this effort than Madonna.
www.kff.org
Don't worry. This will be ignored by American mass media and Trump will be blamed for not sending the EU and the WHO corrupt machine millions.
By Annabelle Timsit
Geopolitics reporter
Even before it launched, however, the fundraising drive was controversial. First, EU officials allowed countries to pledge money that they had already spent on Covid-19 relief since Jan. 30, as opposed to counting only new funds as part of the recorded pledges. The Commission also hasn’t clarified on its website how much of the countries’ pledges are made up of new funds versus old ones.
Then, some civil society groups questioned how the EU would distribute the money raised. While $8 billion is a lot of money to pour into research, the EU has so far refused to impose price caps on pharmaceutical manufacturers, or force companies that receive public funds to give up their intellectual property—through mandatory licensing, for example, or less drastically, patent pools or cross-licensing—so that drugs and vaccines can be mass-produced cheaply.
And, while the guest list for this event was a who’s-who of global health governance, the US was noticeably absent, even though it is home to the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, many of which are now leading the race to develop a vaccine for Covid-19. The world’s biggest superpower, in essence, contributed less to this effort than Madonna.
E.U.-Led Fundraising Summit For COVID-19 Shows Controversy, Politics Of Vaccine Research | KFF
Quartz: An E.U.-led coronavirus fundraising event reveals the politics of a vaccine search “A fundraising event convened by the European Union and billed as a show of global solidarity in the fight against Covid-19 instead showed just how political this public health crisis has become. The...
www.kff.org
Don't worry. This will be ignored by American mass media and Trump will be blamed for not sending the EU and the WHO corrupt machine millions.
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