*[Enwl-eng] WeMove Europe: Vladimir’s vaccine

[ENWL]

      Millions of euros of our tax money will be mobilised to support the 
development of highly-needed tests, treatments and vaccines to fight the 
coronavirus. But unless we act now, there is no guarantee that any medicine 
developed will be affordable and available to all of us.

      Make medicine affordable
Hi,

In a few months, treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 will reach hospitals. 
But some of us may not be able to afford them!

This might happen because the EU Health Commissioner and national health 
ministers have not done anything to stop pharmaceutical companies from 
charging high prices to healthcare systems for the drugs they develop with 
our tax money.

Right now, the European Commission and our national governments are 
mobilising millions of euros of public funds to promote research to fight 
COVID-19. [1]

With high prices for drugs, as the virus infects millions in Europe, 
healthcare systems in wealthier countries like Germany or France may have to 
choose which citizens get the treatments, while lower-income countries may 
not be able to afford treatments at all. No one should be denied treatment, 
whether it’s the elderly, migrants, the poor or the unemployed.

The EU Health Commissioner and national health ministers must put conditions 
on all COVID-19 funding: Any medicine developed must be made affordable to 
healthcare systems. [2]

During this emergency, as decision makers are working from home, our online 
pressure is especially powerful. If thousands of us sign a massive petition 
and inundate their new places of work -- Email, Twitter and Facebook -- with 
messages, our leaders will see that citizens are watching their every move. 
Together let’s call on them to put public health before private profit.

            Act now to save lives and make medicine and vaccines available 
to all


If we don’t intervene, companies that receive public money may get exclusive 
licenses to produce medicine, so that no one else can sell the same drugs or 
even get access to the medical knowledge required to produce them. This 
means pharmaceutical companies can charge excessively high prices, making it 
difficult for even the best healthcare system to buy enough drugs to make 
them available for everyone.

This has already happened in Europe for other life-saving medicine. The 
Gilead Sciences company - which came under fire for trying to get a patent 
on COVID-19 vaccines - has a monopoly on a drug to treat Hepatitis C with 
profits of over EUR 20 billion from this drug alone since 2013. [3] [4] They 
charge exorbitant prices to European healthcare systems for this drug, and 
far too many people are denied treatment for this reason. [5]

The corona crisis can help us create a model for the future: All future 
medicine developed with our public money needs to be affordable to our 
healthcare systems. Period.

It’s easy for the health commissioner and our health minister to stop 
companies exploiting this crisis. It’s up to us to give them a wake-up call.

            Ensure everyone has access to medicine and vaccines


In the past, we’ve proven that our people power can make a difference in 
protecting our health: whether it's working to increase transparency around 
pesticides in our agriculture or stopping toxic air pollution from coal 
plants in Europe. [6] [7]

Today, we have the chance to use the coronavirus pandemic as a wake-up call 
for us all. Not only do we need to make any COVID-19 treatment affordable so 
we can take care of everyone, but we need to set the precedent that our 
health needs to take priority over profit.To our health,

David, Giulio (Rome), and the entire WeMove Europe team



References:
[1] In the EU, 
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_440
In Germany, 
https://www.bmbf.de/de/karliczek-forschung-fuer-ein-besseres-verstaendnis-des-coronavirus-beschleunigen-11030.html
In the UK, 
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-announces-new-funding-in-fight-against-spread-of-coronavirus
In France, 
https://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/cid150453/covid-19-la-recherche-francaise-mobilisee.html
[2] 
https://medicinesalliance.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COVID-19-RD-public-investments-March.pdf
[3] 
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/2/robert_weissman_public_citizen_economy_coronavirus
[4]https://hepcoalition.org/news/press-releases/article/hepatitis-c-cure-sofosbuvir-turns-5-years-old-the-vast-majority-of-people-still?lang=en#nb1
[5] Gilead charges as much as €43,000 for one person’s 12-week treatment of 
sofosbuvir in Europe 
https://www.msf.org/msf-and-groups-call-end-gilead%E2%80%99s-hepatitis-c-drug-monopoly-europe-which-blocks-access
[6] https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/clean-up-air-pollution
[7] https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/glyphosate-austria-int-en



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From: David - WeMove Europe
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 12:05 PM
Subject: Vladimir’s vaccine

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