Fake determinants

A series of research papers and an open letter by 200 global figures hold industries accountable for the growing publichealth problems, call for urgent actions

- VIBHA VARSHNEY

ON THE THIRD anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 200 global figures including former UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz wrote an open letter calling on policy makers to "never again" allow the pharmaceutical industry to choose profits over saving lives. Their concerns stem from the fact that even though all the vaccines against SARS-COV-2 were developed using public funds, companies chose to sell "the people's vaccines, the people's tests, and the people's treatments" first to the highest bidders-to the richest countries with the deepest pockets. As a result, only 28.5 per cent people in low-income countries have so far received a single dose of the vaccine-instead of a minimum of two shots, prescribed to protect against serious illnesses and deaths from COVID-19. "Had governments listened to the science and shared vaccines equitably with the world, it is estimated that at least 1.3 million lives could have been saved in the first year of the vaccine rollout alone, or one preventable death every 24 seconds," stated the letter.