This Ebola disease outbreak once again exposes persistent failures to ensure that accessible medical tools for diseases disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries are prioritised, funded, and produced as part of R&D. It has to change.
https://t.co/MnAUtkwVMQ
Why do most people w/ #hepatitis, a liver inflammation that can be deadly, STILL go undiagnosed?
1 reason is unaffordable tests. If @DanaherCorp & @CepheidNews's tests were $5 (they’d still make a profit, btw!), testing could be scaled up & more lives saved. It's #TimeFor5!
@jamie_love@Manon_Ress@marcuslowx@MohgaKamalYanni@ellenthoen Ellen 't Hoen: "There are no obvious players that can take over the role of the MSF access campaign, not only because most lack the financing that MSF has at its disposal, but also because none have the multidisciplinary expertise MSF has,” she said." @MSF
@MSF Activism does not come from a bottle. It is fostered in trust independence and partnerships with civil society and those who live with the disease. The closure of #AccessCampaign is a wound in the heart of global south movements @dnpplus@affordabledrugs@HealthJusticeIn
There are two new treatments for Ebola, but why are they not readily available for people most at risk? At #WHA76 this week, @JulienPotet takes us through the issues.
The blood of an Ebola survivor in DRC led to the discovery of treatment. But now there is no access for people that need these treatments most. Most global supply is stockpiled in the US, some of which was bought for $6,900/course.
New MSF report: https://t.co/S0ibCToVMf
#WHA76
If you develop therapeutics for diseases which primarily affect low income settings you have a responsibility to ensure those products actually reach these populations #Ebola@MSF_access@julienpotet
https://t.co/BgYp4cDhmc
How will we ensure equitable access to #MCM for current and future pandemic pathogens? Some recommendations for #Ebola in #MSF report “Ensuring Access to New Treatments for Ebola Virus Disease” https://t.co/I1w6PgZvjE @AfricaCDC@WHOAFRO@jarottingen@MSF_access
Having worked with two other filoviruses #Ebola Sudan and #MarburgVirus during last couple of months in #Uganda and #Tanzania where there are no approved products but promising candidates we need to ensure products reaching patients both pre- and post approval @JaneRuth_Aceng
Dr Armand Sprecher, MSF : Biggest missed opportunity missed is in the Ebola therapeutics trial agreement since they didn’t mention about affordability and accessibility of therapeutics for countries in Africa where trial was done.
Its time #Ebola mAbs are used to their full potential! This includes as post-exposure prophylaxis for high-risk community contacts in future outbreak to lower mortality and break transmission chain to control outbreaks earlier. @MSF_access
Important landmark to ensure greater access to bedaquiline - a life saving drug and the backbone of all oral and shorter DR-TB regimens. Activism works. @MSF_access
GOOD NEWS! ⚡
A patent challenge by two tuberculosis (TB) survivors was successful!
The Indian Patent Office rejected Johnson & Johnson’s (@JNJNews) attempt to extend its monopoly on the lifesaving TB drug bedaquiline.
https://t.co/I92fEHNXqw
🧵👇🏽
GOOD NEWS! ⚡
A patent challenge by two tuberculosis (TB) survivors was successful!
The Indian Patent Office rejected Johnson & Johnson’s (@JNJNews) attempt to extend its monopoly on the lifesaving TB drug bedaquiline.
https://t.co/I92fEHNXqw
🧵👇🏽
Luckily cases have dropped for #Ebola in Uganda, but therefore looks like we missed the possibility to assess if vaccine candidates work against SUDV. Same goes for therapeutic #mAbs MBP134. We need to move from reactiveness to preparedness in R&D for outbreak-prone diseases!
⚠️ #Ebola outbreak in Uganda:
While two licensed Ebola vaccines already exist, neither is effective against the species in Uganda (called SUDV). Trials for an effective #vaccine haven’t been able to take off because of the flawed research & development (R&D) model. 🧵👇🏽
@HelenBranswell@WHO Thanks, @HelenBranswell - any info on how they can start with only 100 doses? 100 doses = 10 rings = 1(-2) infected person. Current numbers 36 cases = 360 rings needed already
Years of TB progress have been reversed during covid-19 with rise in deaths first time in more than a decade. Massive need for scale up of diagnosis of TB - but supply delays jeopardize this. @CepheidNews need to prioritize production of TB cartridges!
How can we build a more equitable, sustainable, and accountable medical innovation system that serves everyone’s health needs, starting today with the COVID-19 pandemic? We need to challenge the status quo - read our letter to @TheLancet
Read our letter to @TheLancet challenging the status quo of patents and other IP impeding access to #COVID19 vaccines, drugs and tests.
https://t.co/8YePYuYuqC