Letter to Latin American leaders endorsed by 81 organizations and Individuals.
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To Whom It Concerns, Presidents:

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only put enormous pressure on health care, it has also caused a global economic crisis and pushed millions of people into poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Added to the above is the moral impact caused by the large number of lives lost and the adverse long-term effects of this pathology still under study due to the large number of variants that have appeared in the region.

As civil society organizations and national and Latin American activists and the Caribbean, who work on access to COVID-19 technologies, we are writing to you to request the design as well as adjustment of the country’s plans and policies to guarantee access to the vaccines already developed, as well as their efficacy and safety against the variants that have appeared in recent months.

We are not unaware that the pharmaceutical industry has played a fundamental role in the speed of the development of vaccines and other technologies. However, it is important to remember the extensive public funding these companies have received.

This means that it is citizens who are contributing a large part of the funds and indirectly assuming the commercial risks of the advancement of technologies of COVID-19, therefore citizens have the right to demand information and to access
safe and timely use of such technologies.

Throughout the year it has been observed that most pharmaceutical companies have negotiated, sold and distributed their vaccines for COVID-19 in countries in developed countries which constitutes “vaccine apartheid”; meanwhile the developing countries and the poorest as is the case of Latin America and the Caribbean have had to wait for the availability of the product and additionally rely on donations.

This situation is generating a strong negative impact regarding the pandemic in the Latin American Region. This is why we demand that you, as heads of state, confirm your commitment in terms of transparency, affordability, use of licenses, technology transfer and equitable access as well as other measures necessary to control the pandemic

Vaccine production has been insufficient to vaccinate the entire world population, therefore we consider that it is necessary to restructure the acquisition and production models to improve the availability of doses at the most favorable price for our region, which at the same time is going through a serious economic crisis. Therefore, it is imperative that pharmaceutical companies share technology and knowledge with other qualified producers as soon as possible and it is important that the countries of the region take a firm position towards the industry.

The proposal for a temporary waiver of TRIPS obligations in response to COVID-19 and the WHO COVID-19 Technology Access Panel (C-TAP) is an alternative that provides a global mechanism ready to use for this exchange, therefore we demand its support; however, it is clear that all additional measures that can be used to expand production in the region are essential. Faced with a new global landscape, the State must protect the interests of its health systems above those of multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Consequently, we demand:

  1. Full transparency regarding clinical trials, financial investments, manufacturing costs, retail prices, advance purchase commitments and the resources received from the public and non-profit sectors for the COVID-19 vaccine. The State should ensure that in the purchase contracts for COVID-19 vaccines that are made, there is a guarantee of receiving full doses on time for all citizens who need them, as well as alternatives to the appearance of new variants. That the state promote fairer negotiations with vaccine producers, since it is a product used massively, and of primary need.
  2. Commitment to use all health safeguards against intellectual property rights and exclusivity rights of all technology, materials, test data, trade secrets, biological material, product designs, since these generate monopolies, high costs and constitute a barrier to access in times of health emergency.
  3. Full support for the proposed temporary waiver of certain TRIPS obligations as a response to COVID-19, considering that this allows for building local capacity and reducing dependence on developed countries and the WHO COVID-19 Technology Access Panel (C-TAP) an alternative that provides a ready-to-use global mechanism for this exchange.
  4. The State must insist not only that intellectual property rights are released but also that multinationals share formulations openly, that effective technology transfer takes place, and that public initiatives for the manufacture of vaccines in Latin America are supported with full transparency regarding production costs.
  5. States should exercise strict control over vaccine prices, avoiding abuses by multinational pharmaceutical companies and the enrichment of pharmaceutical companies at the expense of the COVID 19 epidemic.
  6. The states must seek support from international agencies of cooperation. Make a call at the United Nations General Assembly for an urgent global program for the manufacture of vaccines, financed in accordance with the countries’ ability to pay. The State should work together with WHO for the creation of a center for vaccine production and technology transfer in Latin America.
  7. Promote educational campaigns related to the importance of vaccines.
  8. Promote plans and programs to generate economic recovery in the face of the crisis generated by the pandemic that has driven thousands of people into poverty.

NO ONE IS SAFE UNTIL WE ARE ALL SAFE!

ORGANIZATIONS

  1. Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes. El Salvador , El Salvador, C.A
  2. Acción Internacional para la Salud, Perú
  3. AID FOR AIDS Colombia /Aliyoner Rodríguez , Colombia
  4. Asociacion APUVIMEH HONDURAS, Honduras
  5. Asociación Asiris , Ecuador
  6. Asociacion CCEFIRO, Peru
  7. Asociación de Desarrollo Social y Comunitario Rija’tzuul Na’ooj, Guatemala
  8. Asociación de Mujeres Gente Nueva-AMUGEN-, Guatemala
  9. Asociacion Goover, Ecuador
  10. Asociación Médica de Antioquia , Colombia
  11. Asociación Pacientes Alto Costo , Colombia
  12. Asociacion Por La Vida (ASOVIDA) Mérida, Venezuela
  13. Caritas América Latina y el Caribe, Regional
  14. Centro de Edtudios para la Equidad y Gobernanza de los Sistemas de Salud,
    Guatemala
  15. Coalición Dominicana Saludable, República Dominicana
  16. Corporacion Innovarte, Chile
  17. Corporación Red Somos, Colombia
  18. Corresponsales Clave, Argentina
  19. Derechohabientes Viviendo con VIH del IMSS , México
  20. FIC Bolivia/Alianza Por La Salud , Bolivia
  21. Francisco Olivares, Chile
  22. Fundacion Gente Positiva CR, Costa Rica
  23. Fundación Grupo Efecto Positivo, Argentina
  24. Fundación IFARMA
  25. Fundación Luchando Vencerás / Joan Parot, Chile
  26. Fundación Matices / Santiago Jaramillo , Ecuador
  27. FUNDASIDA, El Salvador
  28. Global Humanitarian Progress Corporation GHP Corp, Colombia
  29. ILAPYC ( Instituto Latinoamericano Paz y Ciudadania) , Argentina
  30. International Treatment Preparedness Coalition Latin American and Caribbean ITPC-LATCA, Guatemala
  31. Juntos por la Vida , Chile
  32. Liga Merideña contra la Sida, Venezuela
  33. Mesa Tematica Nacional sobre VIH/SIDA del Foro de la Sociedad Civil en Salud – FOROSALUD (Peru)
  34. Mesa Temática Nacional sobre VIH/SIDA del Foro de la Sociedad Civil en Salud (Foro Salud) Peru
  35. Misión Salud de Colombia, Colombia
  36. Movimiento de Alimentación Saludable , Panamá
  37. Movimiento Mexicano de Ciudadnía Positiva, A.C. / Georgina Gutiérrez Alvarado, México
  38. Organización de Mujeres Tierra Viva, Guatemala
  39. Organización Juntos por la Vida , Chile
  40. Plaperts, Ecuador
  41. Red de Acceso a Medicamentos, Guatemala
  42. Red PVVS-Uruguay , Uruguay
  43. Red Uruguaya de PVVS/REDLA+, Uruguay
  44. Salud y Fármacos, Coordinación para América Latina y el Caribe
  45. Súmate , El Salvador
  46. Universidades Aliadas por los Medicamientos Esenciales (UAEM) – América
    Latina , Brasil, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
  47. Veeduría al plan de vacunación de Antioquia-VPVA, Colombia.
  48. Veeduría Equipo anticorrupción, Colombia

LEADERS

  1. Alma de León, Guatemala
  2. Alma Odette Chacón, Guatemala
  3. Angelica María Patiño , Colombia
  4. Bertha Chete, Guatemala
  5. César A. Coria Mercado, México
  6. Claudia Vargas, Colombia
  7. Clemencia Mayorga R. Colombia
  8. David Gonzalez, Ecuador
  9. Francisco Olivares, Chile
  10. Georgina Gutierrez Alvarado, México
  11. German Enrique Reyes F , Colombia
  12. Giovanni Francisco Guevara, El Salvador
  13. Javier Pablo Anamaria , Lima
  14. Jorge Antonio Estrada Rodriguez, Perú
  15. Jorge Eduardo Cruz castillo, Colombia
  16. Jose Alejandro Niño Vasquez, Colombia
  17. Jose Hernandez, Guatemala
  18. Julio Rondinel Cano, Peru
  19. Karina Bravo, Ecuador
  20. Laura Inés Pérez ottonello, Uruguay
  21. Lesbia Gálvez , Guatemala
  22. Lucrecia Vicente Franco , Guatemala
  23. Luz M Umbasia, Colombia.
  24. Mabel Martínez Arriaga , Honduras
  25. María José Fraga, Uruguay
  26. Marisabel Colorado, El Salvador
  27. Marleny Negreros , Guatemala
  28. Patricia Pérez , Argentina
  29. Richard Stern , Costa Rica
  30. Rosa Mercedes Vásquez Rojas, Perú
  31. Roxana Bretoneche Rivas, Perú
  32. Ursula Roldán Andrade, Guatemala
  33. Walter José Trejo Urquiola, Venezuela