Health experts, corporate leaders, former presidents, government ministers and Nobel Laureates have called on the WHO to establish a pandemic treaty. This action follows obvious inequity in distribution of COVID vaccines and diagnostic kits. Industrialized nations benefited from a preferential supply of resources required worldwide following the emergence and spread of the infection.
The open letter circulated by The People’s Vaccine urges an international treaty that will prevent “profiteering and nationalism” that restricted the availability of vaccines and other essentials. The letter also called on the WHO to encourage sharing of technology and to invest in scientific innovation and manufacturing capacity for vaccines in low and middle-income nations. Although an mRNA vaccine technology transfer program has been established, it is ineffective due to lack of funding.