
“We must stop selling off our tomorrow:” A discussion on the social, medical and political responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and what might lie ahead
The Brazil LAB and the Department of Preventative Medicine of the University of São Paulo (USP) organized a webinar on August 21, 2020, exploring the political determinants underlying the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on Brazil and the shifting nature of Global Health responses.
Read moreGlobal Agenda: MPP includes COVID-19 among priorities to increase access to medicines from low-income countries
Founded and funded by the International AIDS Funding Agency (UNITAID) since 2010, the Medicine Patent Pool (MPP) aims to increase access and facilitate drug development for low and middle income countries through an innovative approach to voluntary licensing and patent breaking.
Read moreTo confront COVID-19, WHO calls for international cooperation to share knowledge, intellectual property and data
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on the global community to voluntarily make available the knowledge, intellectual property and data needed to confront COVID-19. According to WHO, the priority is to stop the pandemic, interrupt the transmission of the new coronavirus and reverse the consequences of future global problems. For this, WHO advocates universal access to knowledge, intellectual property, data and other technologies in progress.
Read moreThe world needs a ‘people’s vaccine’ for coronavirus, not a big-pharma monopoly
Former New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark, and UN Under-Secretary-General, Winnie Byanyima, wrote a hard-hitting article against the pharmaceutical industry’s monopoly. The authors acknowledge the need for an urgent vaccine to end the COVID-19 pandemic. According to them, the world is likely to need a permanent dose of the vaccine and intellectual property is one of the barriers that prevent this vaccine from being available to everyone.
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How Brazil became South America’s Covid-19 hotspot
According to Richard Parker, Director and President of the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA), “Brazil should be better positioned to deal with large health threats than many other low and middle-income countries,” says Parker. “It was always going to be a serious spread, but it didn’t have to be this way”.
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COVID-19: Some reflections*
Jane Galvão* On May 4 of this year, the Brazilian composer Aldir Blanc died due to complications caused by COVID-19. His most famous composition, “O bêbado e aequilibrista” (The […]
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COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS: Parallels and Lessons
by Richard Parker* In the COVID-19 pandemic, the history of the emergence of and responses to theHIV/AIDS epidemic offers lessons for reflecting on the current challenges and risks we face. […]
Read moreIn statement, ABIA defends democracy, condemns lack of a unique message from the Brazilian federal government concerning COVID-19 and warns against militarization of health policy
The Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA) expresses deep concern regarding President Jair Bolsonaro’s latest changes in the Ministry of Health and regarding hisactive support for a demonstration in favor of a military that was held on Sunday (April 19th) before the Army headquarters in Brasilia. ABIA joins the flood of critics against the event, remains vigilant and stands in defenseof democracy in Brazil.
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UNAIDS’ New Community-Led Approach
Under the new leadership of Executive Director Byanyima, UNAIDS has taken visible steps toward repairing the organization’s ineffective and elitist reputation by pressing for a more community-oriented HIV response. Early […]
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Global AIDS Funding
By Lauren S. Campbell In July of 2019, UNAIDS’s released its 2019 Global AIDS Update and admitted to the over ambitious aims of the 90-90-90 fast-track strategy.1 With new HIV […]
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