MADRID, 20 Abr. (EDITIONS) –
For the COVID 19 pandemic to be overcome, it is necessary for all countries to be vaccinated, not only the rich, but also the poor, and at least all health professionals and vulnerable populations on the planet.
“As long as we are not all safe, no one will be safe. For justice and solidarity, but also for selfishness,” he defends in a interview with Infosalus Félix Lobo, emeritus professor at the Carlos III University of Madrid, and a benchmark in Health Economics in Spain.
Lobo, who was also director general of Pharmacy and Health Products (1982-1988) and president of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (2005-2008) of the Ministry of Health, believes that for vaccines to reach all countries in development The most practical thing is to develop and expand the WHO COVAX program.
According to the United Nations, COVAX is co-directed by the Gavi Alliance for Vaccines (Gavi), the Coalition for the Promotion of Innovations for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Its objective is to accelerate the development, production and access to diagnostic tests, treatments and vaccines against COVID-19, not only to rich countries, but also to low-income ones,” he says.
Thus, Professor Felix Lobo, who was also a member of the Expert Committee on Drug Policy and Management of the World Health Organization (1987-2016) consider that to expand COVAX there are two ways to do it:
1.- That rich countries, including Spain, donate even more money to finance the vaccines that need to be manufactured. “They have donated a lot, but you have to donate everything that the WHO is asking for. By the way, Russia and China have not donated a single euro,” he says.
2.- That rich countries donate to COVAX the vaccines that will soon begin to run out. “Before the summer of 2020, to get the vaccines developed, they promised to buy many doses from various companies when they were around, to incentivize them to risk research and manufacture at risk, just in case one failed (as has happened)” , the expert influences.
Moreover, he maintains that, thanks to these advance purchases from the EU, the USA and the United Kingdom, the many vaccines that we already have today and from which everyone can benefit could be developed.
In your opinion, These donations must be made as soon as possible, to vaccinate health professionals and vulnerable populations around the planet.. “Even before we vaccinate in rich countries the less vulnerable young populations. In fact, this has already begun to be done by the European Union and certain countries. We must follow this line”, emphasizes the emeritus professor of the Carlos University III of Madrid. In turn, he considers that the patent system has “many defects and must be reformed in the medium term.”
PATENTS ARE NOT THE MAIN OBSTACLE
Another point on which this expert in Health Economics emphasizes is that patents are not the main obstacle to expanding the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide: “The barrier is non-patentable knowledge or ‘know how ‘, necessary to know how to manufacture. It is better that this knowledge is transmitted through voluntary agreements, promotedIf necessary, by governments, which have a great capacity to convince any company, no matter how multinational it may be. This is already being done and there are agreements underway that will greatly expand manufacturing capacity. “
Ultimately, Felix Lobo warns that there is no time to lose, so he urges you to support the WHO and to give him the resources he needs, as well as the vaccines that will soon begin to be available.
“Let us also prepare for the next pandemic, when immunization has progressed and we have a breather, by reforming the patent system and, above all, by creating an international system with public-private partnerships that expands research and manufacturing capabilities around the world. of new vaccines “, sentence”, sentence the also member of the Association of Health Economics (AES).
Recently, the European Commission has made public that releasing patents for COVID-19 vaccines “will not solve” the current problem of access to them and prefers to encourage collaboration between pharmaceutical companies to increase production capacity on a global scale.
Brussels, as recognized, prefers to emphasize the promotion of operating license agreements between vaccine developers and pharmaceutical companies, a cooperation that “is already happening” at a global level but that “needs to be increased”.
In addition, it highlights the need to “find measures that preserve the incentives to innovate and research in health-related issues”, and “disseminate technology and knowledge through collaboration” between the different actors in the medical products sector.
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