E-DRUG: A coalition of student organizations launch advocacy-tracker tool of public funds for COVID-19 at key universities
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[Crossposted from IP Health]
PRESS RELEASE
Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) - Washington, D.C. MAY 18th, 2020
Monday, May 18th, as the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) opens virtually due to Covid-19, student health advocacy organizations Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), and the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) launched an interactive online advocacy tool that highlights key research universities and institutions receiving taxpayer funds to develop novel diagnostics, therapeutics, and/or vaccines for COVID-19. The tool, by visualizing where public funding is being directed, is designed to be used to hold research universities and institutions accountable to their responsibilities to the public.
'As countries come together virtually for the WHA, it is imperative that leaders implement sustainable measures to ensure access to and affordability of vaccines and medicines by recognizing their leverage in mobilizing a R&D system supported by tax-payer funds, as evidenced by the extensive research landscape visualized by our tracking tool' said Varoon Mathur, Technology Fellow at the AI Now Institute, and Co-ordinating Committee Fellow with UAEM, North America.
'As part of our Free The Vaccine campaign we're calling on all universities to show leadership in this global crisis through a commitment to open access provisions via the Open Covid Pledge to ensure publicly-funded COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines will be accessible and affordable to all.' said Merith Basey, Executive Director of UAEM, North America.
'In these troubling times, traditionally marginalized groups have suffered from disproportionate rates of illness and death from COVID-19 due to socioeconomic inequities perpetuated by our society. It is our moral and ethical obligation to close this gap by advocating for the affordability and accessibility of any vaccine, treatment, or diagnostic tool that is developed using public funds' said Veronica Wright from the SNMA.
This mapping tool illustrates the magnitude of public funding that has been directed to COVID19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. In North America, the U.S. government has allocated $1 billion to the NIH as well as an additional $836 million to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to support research and development of COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. The Canadian government has allocated $1.1 billion in taxpayer funding towards COVID-19 research on vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. A significant proportion of the research on novel COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines builds upon decades of publicly-funded research on other viral diseases such as HIV and AIDS, Hepatitis C, Ebola, and influenza. Based on our findings alone, it is clear that any novel COVID-19 diagnostic, therapeutic, and an eventual vaccine will inevitably have public taxpayer funding supporting its discovery and therefore the public should have access to the fruits of the research that they already paid for.
www.publicmeds4covid.org
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: North America: administrator@uaem.org +1
510-868-1159 Europe: office@uaem.org
Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) is a global network of university students organizing on their campuses to ensure that publicly-funded medicines are accessible and affordable to the public.
The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) is committed to supporting current and future underrepresented minority medical students, addressing the needs of underserved communities, and increasing the number of clinically excellent, culturally competent and socially conscious physicians.
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Just Medicine Campaign strives to increase access to medicines and remove conflicts of interest in prescribing by empowering physicians and physicians-in-training to advocate on behalf of patients.
Merith Basey MSc (she/her)
Executive Director, North America
Universities Allied for Essential Medicines <http://uaem.org/>