Health as a Human Right
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Talking Points on Health as a Human Right
We All Must Respond to Ebola
Statement by US-Africa Network, September 19, 2014
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Ebola center in Sierra Leone. National and international efforts to stop the spread of the epidemic have been insufficient to contain it. Photo credits: ©EC/ECHO/Cyprien Fabre.
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Recent bulletins on Health
October 15 , 2021 Africa/Global: Hardly a Dent in #VaccineApartheid
http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/vac2110.php
“Millions of people remain at risk of dying from COVID-19 because high-income
countries (HICs), including the US, continue to hoard excess vaccine doses,
warns a new report released [on October 11] by Doctors Without
Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The international medical humanitarian
organization is calling on governments to commit to a concrete plan to
redistribute vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) via
COVAX or regional procurement bodies by the end of October.”
August 26, 2021 Mozambique/Global: “Most Egregious Corruption Case of the 21st Century”
http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/moz2108.php
“In my view the hidden debt scandal is the most egregious corruption case of the 21st century. In dollar terms, the Malaysian 1MBD case is larger, but Malaysia is far wealthier than Mozambique, ranked 47th out of 185 countries on GDP per capita whereas Mozambique ranks 180.“ - Richard Messick, senior contributor to the Global Anticorruption Blog and pro bono legal counsel to the Budget Monitoring Forum, a civil society coalition in Mozambique.
July 27, 2021 USA/Africa: Building Back Better? Or Not?
http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/usaf2107.php
Last week marked six months for the Biden administration and for the
narrow Democratic majority in Congress. So it seems an appropriate
time for a report card on U.S. Africa policy. And that also means a
review of U.S. policies on today's most pressing global issues, on
which the negative effects fall disproportionately on Africans on
the continent and in the diaspora.
July 27, 2021 USA/Global: Let Cuba Live!
http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/uscuba2107.php
The Biden administration has now been in office for six months,
along with a narrow Democratic majority in Congress. So it seems an
appropriate time for a report card. I offered my evaluation in another AfricaFocus Bulletin sent out today, entitled “Building Back Better? Or Not?” But as I was finalizing that Bulletin, I realized that the rising U.S. attacks on Cuba are a key indicator of how things are going.
May 17, 2021 Africa/Global: Decolonizing Medical Technology
http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/mal2105.php
“A continent of 1.2 billion people should not have to import 99% of its vaccines. But that is the tragic reality for Africa. Fixing the lack of home-grown manufacturing capacity has become a top priority for Africa’s policymakers. Last week, 40,000 people, including researchers, business leaders and members of civil-society groups, joined heads of state for a two-day online summit designed to share the latest developments and kick-start fresh thinking on how to bring vaccine manufacturing to Africa.” - Nature magazine editorial, April 21, 2021
April 19, 2021 Confronting Global Apartheid Demands Global Solidarity
http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/ga2104.php
"The COVID-19 pandemic has both revealed and deepened structural
inequalities around the world. Nearly every country has been hit by
economic downturn, but the impacts are unevenly felt. Within and
across countries, the people who have suffered most are those already
disadvantaged by race, class, gender, or place of birth, reflecting
the harsh inequality that has characterized our world for centuries."
April 6, 2021 Africa/Global: People's Vaccine vs. Vaccine Apartheid
http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/vac2104.php
Despite the vast disparity in the pace of vaccinations for Covid-19, currently at over 20% having one dose in North America, 5% in the world, and less in 1% for Africa, the United States, other rich countries, and pharmaceutical companies are still rejecting growing demands to waive patents and transfer technology. See chart below and data by country at https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations.
February 22, 2021 Africa/Global: The Inequality Virus
http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/ineq2102.php
“COVID-19 has been likened to an x-ray, revealing fractures in the
fragile skeleton of the societies we have built. It is exposing
fallacies and falsehoods everywhere: The lie that free markets can
deliver healthcare for all; The fiction that unpaid care work is
not work; The delusion that we live in a post-racist world; The
myth that we are all in the same boat. While we are all floating
on the same sea, it’s clear that some are in super yachts, while
others are clinging to the drifting debris.” – António Guterres,
UN Secretary General
January 26, 2021 Africa/Global: Distant Horizon for Vaccine Equity
http://www.africafocus.org/docs21/vacc2101.php
“I need to be blunt: the world is on the brink of a catastrophic
moral failure – and the price of this failure will be paid with
lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries. Even as
they speak the language of equitable access [to Covid vaccines],
some countries and companies continue to prioritize bilateral
deals, driving up prices and attempting to jump to the front of the
queue. This is wrong. … The situation is compounded by the fact
that most manufacturers have prioritized regulatory approval in
rich countries where the profits are highest, rather than
submitting full dossiers to WHO.” - Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
WHO Director-General
November 30, 2020 USA/Africa: Build Back Better on Africa Policy
http://www.africafocus.org/docs20/usa2011.php
“President Trump's overt contempt for Africans is encapsulated in
his famously crass remark about African countries. But the
principal damage to Africa has stemmed from his administration’s
broader policy choices, such as the disastrous rejection of the
World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris climate accords;
harsh curbs on legal immigration and asylum; and gutting of gender
equality programs. … Nevertheless, the Biden administration should
not merely go back to the pre-Trump status quo. … We argue that an
even more fundamental questioning of U.S. Africa-related policy is
needed.” - Imani Countess and William Minter
September 28, 2020 USA/Global: Millions Displaced by US Post-9/11 Wars
http://www.africafocus.org/docs20/disp2009.php
“Wartime displacement (alongside war deaths and injuries) must be
central to any analysis of the post-9/11 wars and their short- and
long-term consequences. Displacement also must be central to any
possible consideration of the future use of military force by the
United States or others. Ultimately, displacing 37 million—and
perhaps as many as 59 million—raises the question of who bears
responsibility for repairing the damage inflicted on those
displaced.” - Brown University Costs of War Project
September 23, 2020 USA/Global: Overhauling U.S. Foreign Policy
http://www.africafocus.org/docs20/usa2009.php
The most consequential election year in most of our lifetimes has
featured stark crises unspooling against a backdrop of vigorous
activist mobilizations and simmering public outrage. While the
first essential step for progressives is to prevent the reelection
of President Trump, that will not be enough. We need fundamental
change rather than a return to the status quo ante.
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