File photo used for representation only
The threats that vaccine inequity poses to vulnerable communities and to the world was discussed during a panel discussion at Doha Forum yesterday.
Panellists of ‘Vaccine Distribution: Collaborative Solutions for an Equitable System’ emphasised on the reasons and consequences of vaccine inequity. The discussion also focused on distribution hurdles, misinformation campaigns, and other factors that have contributed to vaccine inequity.
“Failure of vaccine equity has humanitarian consequences. Supply of vaccines, supporting communities with training, vaccination campaigns and fighting misinformation are all components of vaccine equity. Failure of equity and access has terrible humanitarian, economic and biological consequences,” said CEO of World Innovation Summit for Health, Sultana Afdhal.
It was highlighted at the discussion that as global vaccination rates continue to rise, the gap between developed and developing nations remains stark. More than 7 billion doses have been administered globally, but just a small percentage of those jabs have gone to people in poorer countries, according to the World Health Organization.
Co-Chair of European Council on Foreign Relation and Former Prime Minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt stressed that the COVID-19 has led the world to a huge vaccine inequity.
“The pandemic has provided us with a success of science and a failure of politics that’s left us with vast vaccine inequity” he said.
The discussion was moderated by International Vaccine Institute, Jerome Kim and he said, “The cost benefit of vaccinating populations is remarkable. We need to be better at convincing ministers of finance that this is the case.”
Chief Executive Officer at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mark Suzman said, “Health inequity is not new. There was a vision early on to make COVID-19 the first global health crisis dealt with equitably. We can now say that vision has failed.”
“The danger of new variants is acute. We need to be careful how we calibrate. We need to be certain that there will be no more outbreaks,” he added.
