As part of its international Save Our Society (SOS) campaign, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Africa will host a virtual press conference via Zoom on Tuesday, Sep. 10 at 10:00 a.m. East Africa Time – Equity for Africa in Pandemic Agreement Talks. Click here to register.
Public health experts and advocates will discuss how health equity in Africa and globally is undermined by Global North leaders putting the interests and profits of pharmaceutical companies over lives, particularly in lower-income countries.
The SOS campaign urges the Global South to unite to establish regional production capacity for vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, and other lifesaving countermeasures. Equity demands binding provisions to achieve this through the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
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WHAT: |
AHF to host a VIRTUAL PRESS CONFERENCE: Equity for Africa in Pandemic Agreement Talks |
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WHEN: |
Tuesday, Sep. 10 at 10:00 a.m. East Africa Time (3:00 a.m. EDT, Washington, D.C.) |
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WHERE: |
VIRTUALLY VIA ZOOM |
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WHO: |
Public health experts and advocates:
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NEWS DESK NOTE & B-ROLL VISUALS |
Press conference will be live streamed on Zoom. CLICK HERE to register. |
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
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Africa: Oluwakemi Gbadamosi, Director of Advocacy & Policy, AHF, +234.814.772.4590, [email protected]
U.S.: Denys Nazarov, Director of Global Policy & Communications, AHF, +1.323.308.1829, [email protected] |
“It’s vital that world leaders adopt a Pandemic Agreement that establishes concrete mechanisms for the regional production of pandemic-related health products in the Global South. This requires equity, securing sustainable, long-term financing, and a binding roadmap for the transfer of know-how and technology,” said AHF Africa Bureau Chief Dr. Penninah Iutung. “In collaboration with partners and communities, AHF’s Save Our Society campaign is ramping up advocacy in Africa and worldwide to urge decision makers to adopt a Pandemic Agreement that serves all countries – not just the super-rich and Big Pharma. African countries and other nations struggling to prepare for the next global public health disaster cannot afford to repeat what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Beyond vaccines, regional production includes access to diagnostics, therapeutics, personal protective equipment, and other essential countermeasures. This approach will empower regions to become self-reliant and not depend on the Global North to care for its people.
Critical to the upcoming Pandemic Agreement talks in Geneva is linking the Agreement’s Article 11 (technology transfer) and Article 12 (the World Health Organization’s Pathogen Access and Benefits Sharing System (PABS)) to require that manufacturers who benefit from PABS commit to the equitable transfer of technology for production in the Global South. This should be done in addition to the annual financial contributions and the percentages to be set aside through benefit-sharing provisions.
