PHM-Exch> Bulletin #9: The people’s call for universal health care

Mon Sep 27 02:05:02 PDT 2021

Bulletin #9: The people’s call for universal health care
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/bulletin-9-the-peoples-call-for-universal-health-care/>
By People's Health Dispatch – 24 Sep 2021 – View online →
<https://peoples-health-dispatch.ghost.io/bulletin-9-the-peoples-call-for-universal-health-care/>

This fortnight

Months of campaigns for a fair distribution of Covid-19 vaccines seem to
have made little impression on rich countries. Their governments still
refuse to see how the hoarding of doses and dismissal of the needs of the
Global South are prolonging the pandemic, in addition to endangering the
health and lives of people across the globe. As vaccine boosters in
high-income countries are becoming the new hype, poor countries are trying
to find alternative roads to vaccines
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/21/can-poor-countries-succeed-in-vaccinating-their-population/>.
In this issue, we look into the potential and obstacles in their way.

Formally, some rich countries have supported mechanisms that would make
access to Covid-19 vaccines more equitable. After the USA, Australia has
become the latest country to support the TRIPS waiver proposal submitted to
the World Trade Organization. This leaves the EU, and particularly Germany,
as the strongest opponent to the proposal in this forum. The People’s
Health Dispatch brings an analysis of Australia’s change of heart
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/24/how-health-activists-got-australia-to-back-patent-waiver-on-covid-19-vaccines/>
and the ripples it might cause in the EU.

As the struggle for vaccines goes on, so do people’s initiatives for
universal health care. The Nonviolent Medicaid Army held a week of action
from 13 to 20 September in several States of the USA, calling for a major
overhaul of the existing system. At the same time, different groups in the
UK are mobilizing against the new Health and Care Bill. Both communities
and health workers oppose the bill
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/23/progressive-sections-in-uk-vow-to-resist-privatization-of-nhs/>,
which they see as a new attempt to privatize the National Health Service.
We bring overviews of both series of actions.

In *Short reads*, we report on massive protests of health workers in Poland
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/23/polish-health-workers-mobilize-to-save-a-dying-health-system/>,
who are pressuring the government to increase funds for healthcare and
ensure adequate staffing in public health institutions.

Following the formation of a new government in Lebanon, we spoke to public
health experts Aline Germani and Samer Jabbour, who shed more light on the
causes of the crisis this country finds itself in. In our video interview
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoYYOPq-hig>, we bring their thoughts on
life in Lebanon, and particularly on the situation in the healthcare sector.

In *Data speaks*, we bring an overview of the Covid-19 response and
situation in the BRICS bloc.
------------------------------

*Can poor countries succeed in vaccinating their population?
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/21/can-poor-countries-succeed-in-vaccinating-their-population/>*

Public outcry in South Africa helped force Johnson & Johnson to retain the
vaccines produced in the country for domestic use instead of being shipped
to Europe. The Indian civil society has initiated a similar effort as the
Global South looks for alternatives

*How health activists got Australia to back patent waiver on COVID-19
vaccines
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/24/how-health-activists-got-australia-to-back-patent-waiver-on-covid-19-vaccines/>*

Months-long campaigning and advocacy efforts have played a large part in
mobilizing public opinion in favor of a TRIPS waiver for the vaccines.
Australia was among the few member-nations in the WTO to oppose the waiver

*Movements in the US call to expand healthcare access
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/23/movements-in-the-us-call-to-expand-healthcare-access/>*

The Nonviolent Medicaid Army organized a week of action from September
13-20 to strengthen calls to expand healthcare coverage and unite
organizations working on the issue

*Progressive sections in UK vow to resist privatization of NHS
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/23/progressive-sections-in-uk-vow-to-resist-privatization-of-nhs/>*

Trade Unions and health rights groups have said the Health and Care Bill
introduced by the UK’s Tory government will end up further privatizing key
areas of the National Health Service
------------------------------
Short reads

*Polish health workers mobilize to save a dying health system
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/23/polish-health-workers-mobilize-to-save-a-dying-health-system/>*

Tens of thousands of health workers in Poland are demanding the government
to ensure safe staffing, better working conditions, and more funding for
the public health system
------------------------------

*Video: Lebanon's political and economic crisis hits health sector
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoYYOPq-hig>*

Aline Germani, public health expert from Beirut, and Samer Jabbour, health
activist in the PHM War and Conflict thematic group, describe the social,
political, and economic crisis in Lebanon, the impact it has had on the
health crisis, and the circumstances in which a new government has been
formed.
  <https://youtu.be/xoYYOPq-hig>
------------------------------
Data speaks
------------------------------
In case you missed it
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mRNA-based vaccines in Latin America in a bid to tackle COVID-19 and future
infectious-dise…
User account menu Log in EnglishEspañolPortuguêsFrançais Language•21 Sep
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<https://www.paho.org/en/news/21-9-2021-paho-selects-centers-argentina-brazil-develop-covid-19-mrna-vaccines>
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Until we have solid data on who needs them and how often, booster shots are
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<https://newrepublic.com/article/163702/vaccinating-unvaccinated-better-covid-booster-shots>
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<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2021/09/17/the-texas-abortion-ban-ensures-only-the-privileged-get-access-to-reproductive-care/>
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“This leaked contract teaches the world more about how to make mRNA
vaccines than anything done by rich countries so far.”
Common Dreams•Jake Johnson
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/09/15/big-pharma-secrets-revealed-group-uncovers-portion-pfizer-vaccine-recipe>
Why Bangladesh’s Burgeoning Pharmaceutical Sector is on a Collision Course
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<https://www.bu.edu/gdp/2021/09/13/why-bangladeshs-burgeoning-pharmaceutical-sector-is-on-a-collision-course-with-global-trade-and-investment-rules/>
Perilous Medicine: The Quest to Restore Protections for Health Workers
When Serbian forces bombed Sarajevo, Bosnia on May, 26, 1992, the pediatric
hospital came under direct attack. Nurses scrambled to save 17 premature
babies—carrying 2 or 3 apiece to the basement while bullets and shells
rained down.
Global Health NOW
<https://www.globalhealthnow.org/2021-09/perilous-medicine-quest-restore-protections-health-workers>
Editorial: HIV prevention injection should be fast-tracked like COVID-19
vaccines
Findings of two large phase III clinical trials first presented in 2020
showed a new HIV prevention injection to be highly effective. Yet, experts
expect that the injection will only reach clinics in late 2022 or early
2023. If the rhetoric about bringing the urgency of COVID-19 to HIV is to
mean an…
Spotlight•Marcus Low
<https://www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2021/09/09/editorial-hiv-prevention-injection-should-be-fast-tracked-like-covid-19-vaccines/>
*People’s Health Dispatch is an initiative of Peoples Dispatch and the
People's Health Movement*
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