٠٠:٠٦:١٢Lawrence Gostin, Director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Centre on Global Health Law, strongly criticised the 'Global North' for inequities in the distribution and manufacturing of Monkeypox vaccines during an online interview from Washington DC, on Friday, as the virus continued to surge across Africa and threatened the global community.
"You can't have a health emergency that millions of people die in Africa, in Latin America and other poor parts of the world while the Global North hoards all the medical products. We need to do better than that," he said.
The WHO law expert emphasised that wealthier nations are repeating the same inequities seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"So we're repeating a lot of the same inequities as we did with COVID with the potential for really unconscionable inequities unless we can get testing, diagnostic surveillance, laboratories and vaccines in particular in Africa and to do that now."
Gostin also called for more diversified manufacturing and the loosening of intellectual property rights for essential vaccines and equipment during health emergencies.
"All human lives have equal worth, and to think that a life in Europe is worth more than a life in Africa, in my mind, is abhorrent," the professor added.
Regarding the WHO's response, Gostin revealed ongoing cooperation with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create a 'joint response plan.'
"That's likely to mean that they're going to require millions and millions of doses of mpox vaccines. And as you may know, yesterday I had an opinion piece in The New York Times which basically showed that if you look at the map, all of the mpox cases are virtually all over Africa, and if you look at the map of where vaccines are, they're all in Europe and America," Gostin remarked.
Gostin further remarked that no country in the world has adequately addressed the potential mpox outbreak.
"I can't think of one country in the world that I would single out and say that wow, they're the model, they're the ones that really share," he said.
His comments follow the Africa CDC's announcement that mpox has been detected in 13 countries, with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accounting for 96% of cases and deaths. The organization documented over 14,000 cases and 524 fatalities in the DRC this year, with 38,465 cases reported across Africa since January 2022.
Earlier in August, Washington announced a donation of 50,000 doses of mpox vaccines to the DRC. However, this falls far short of the 10 million doses estimated as necessary by the Africa CDC.
'Global North hoards all medical products' - WHO law expert denounces 'inequities' in vaccine distribution, manufacturing amid mpox global emergency
Lawrence Gostin, Director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Centre on Global Health Law, strongly criticised the 'Global North' for inequities in the distribution and manufacturing of Monkeypox vaccines during an online interview from Washington DC, on Friday, as the virus continued to surge across Africa and threatened the global community.
"You can't have a health emergency that millions of people die in Africa, in Latin America and other poor parts of the world while the Global North hoards all the medical products. We need to do better than that," he said.
The WHO law expert emphasised that wealthier nations are repeating the same inequities seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"So we're repeating a lot of the same inequities as we did with COVID with the potential for really unconscionable inequities unless we can get testing, diagnostic surveillance, laboratories and vaccines in particular in Africa and to do that now."
Gostin also called for more diversified manufacturing and the loosening of intellectual property rights for essential vaccines and equipment during health emergencies.
"All human lives have equal worth, and to think that a life in Europe is worth more than a life in Africa, in my mind, is abhorrent," the professor added.
Regarding the WHO's response, Gostin revealed ongoing cooperation with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create a 'joint response plan.'
"That's likely to mean that they're going to require millions and millions of doses of mpox vaccines. And as you may know, yesterday I had an opinion piece in The New York Times which basically showed that if you look at the map, all of the mpox cases are virtually all over Africa, and if you look at the map of where vaccines are, they're all in Europe and America," Gostin remarked.
Gostin further remarked that no country in the world has adequately addressed the potential mpox outbreak.
"I can't think of one country in the world that I would single out and say that wow, they're the model, they're the ones that really share," he said.
His comments follow the Africa CDC's announcement that mpox has been detected in 13 countries, with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accounting for 96% of cases and deaths. The organization documented over 14,000 cases and 524 fatalities in the DRC this year, with 38,465 cases reported across Africa since January 2022.
Earlier in August, Washington announced a donation of 50,000 doses of mpox vaccines to the DRC. However, this falls far short of the 10 million doses estimated as necessary by the Africa CDC.
Lawrence Gostin, Director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Centre on Global Health Law, strongly criticised the 'Global North' for inequities in the distribution and manufacturing of Monkeypox vaccines during an online interview from Washington DC, on Friday, as the virus continued to surge across Africa and threatened the global community.
"You can't have a health emergency that millions of people die in Africa, in Latin America and other poor parts of the world while the Global North hoards all the medical products. We need to do better than that," he said.
The WHO law expert emphasised that wealthier nations are repeating the same inequities seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"So we're repeating a lot of the same inequities as we did with COVID with the potential for really unconscionable inequities unless we can get testing, diagnostic surveillance, laboratories and vaccines in particular in Africa and to do that now."
Gostin also called for more diversified manufacturing and the loosening of intellectual property rights for essential vaccines and equipment during health emergencies.
"All human lives have equal worth, and to think that a life in Europe is worth more than a life in Africa, in my mind, is abhorrent," the professor added.
Regarding the WHO's response, Gostin revealed ongoing cooperation with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create a 'joint response plan.'
"That's likely to mean that they're going to require millions and millions of doses of mpox vaccines. And as you may know, yesterday I had an opinion piece in The New York Times which basically showed that if you look at the map, all of the mpox cases are virtually all over Africa, and if you look at the map of where vaccines are, they're all in Europe and America," Gostin remarked.
Gostin further remarked that no country in the world has adequately addressed the potential mpox outbreak.
"I can't think of one country in the world that I would single out and say that wow, they're the model, they're the ones that really share," he said.
His comments follow the Africa CDC's announcement that mpox has been detected in 13 countries, with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accounting for 96% of cases and deaths. The organization documented over 14,000 cases and 524 fatalities in the DRC this year, with 38,465 cases reported across Africa since January 2022.
Earlier in August, Washington announced a donation of 50,000 doses of mpox vaccines to the DRC. However, this falls far short of the 10 million doses estimated as necessary by the Africa CDC.