The Southern Medical Journal (SMJ) is the official, peer-reviewed journal of the Southern Medical Association. It has a multidisciplinary and inter-professional focus that covers a broad range of topics relevant to physicians and other healthcare specialists.

SMJ // Article

Perspectives

Rethinking the International Response System to Global Health Threats: Strengthening International Collaboration to Ensure Vaccine Equity and Combat Vaccination Hesitancy

Authors: Ramin Walter Parsa-Parsi, MD, MPH

Abstract

At least 9 million people died waiting for the price of antiretroviral therapy to become more affordable to them as the world faced a global outbreak of a new and devastating virus 4 decades ago: the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.1 In the early response to this global epidemic, newly developed drugs provided hope after years of loss and devastation. These treatments remained out of reach for impoverished countries and communities, however, even as well-off countries gained access to lifesaving medications that transformed HIV from a death sentence to a treatable, chronic disease. Generic drug production and the competition that resulted finally reduced the price of the antiviral drugs by 99%, thereby saving millions of lives.2
Posted in: Infectious Disease156

Full Article

Having trouble viewing the article content below? Click here to open it directly.

References

1. Byanyima W. UNAIDS executive director report. https://www.unaids.org/ sites/default/files/media_asset/20210701_48_PCB_Speech_En.pdf. Published June 29, 2021. Accessed August 9, 2021.
 
2. Médecins Sans Frontières. 1999–2019: 20 years of advocacy in action. https://msfaccess.org/1999-2019-20-years-advocacy-action. Accessed August 9, 2021.
 
3. McNally A. What makes new variants of SARS-CoV-2 concerning is not where they come from, but the mutations they contain. BMJ 2021;372:n504.
 
4. Krishtel P. Suspend intellectual property rights for covid-19 vaccines. BMJ 2021;373:n1344.
 
5. Kavanagh MM, Gostin LO, Sunder M. Sharing technology and vaccine doses to address global vaccine inequity and end the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA 2021;326:219–220.
 
6. Moon S, Ruiz AA, Vieira M. Averting future vaccine injustice. N Engl J Med 2021;385:193–196.
 
7. Hotez P, Narayan KMV. Restoring vaccine diplomacy. JAMA 2021;325: 2337–2338.
 
8. Iacobucci G. Covid-19: how will a waiver on vaccine patents affect global supply? BMJ 2021;373:n1182.
 
9. World Health Organization. The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator. Accessed August 9, 2021.
 
10. Herzog LM, Norheim OF, Emanuel EJ, et al. Covax must go beyond proportional allocation of covid vaccines to ensure fair and equitable access. BMJ 2021;372:m4853.
 
11. Bajaj SS, Stanford FC. Beyond Tuskegee—vaccine distrust and everyday racism. N Engl J Med 2021;384:e12.
 
12. Corbie-Smith G. Vaccine hesitancy is a scapegoat for structural racism. JAMA Health Forum 2021;2:e210434.
 
13. Pontifical Academy for Life. World Medical Association, German Medical Association and Pontifical Academy for Life collaborate to promote vaccine equity and confront vaccine hesitancy. http://www.academyforlife. va/content/dam/pav/documenti%20pdf/2021/ConferenzaStampa02luglio/ Final%20press%20release%20International%20Roundtable%20on% 20Vaccination.pdf. Published July 2, 2021. Accessed August 9, 2021.
 
14. Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization Working Group. Report of the SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy. https:// www.who.int/immunization/sage/meetings/2014/october/1_Report_ WORKING_GROUP_vaccine_hesitancy_final.pdf. Published October 1, 2014. Accessed August 9, 2021.