How to stop Big Pharma – join our speaker tour

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Hi John,

The global vaccine inequality we have seen in this pandemic is the result of a broken pharmaceutical industry rooted in colonial history. Economic rules designed by rich countries have driven record profits for multinational companies, while blocking the demands of low- and middle-income countries to gain control over vaccine production.

Join our speaker tour from 14-31 March to find out how countries in the global south are fighting back against the profit-driven pharmaceutical system, and what we can do to transform health provision globally to dismantle these colonial dynamics.

Decolonise vaccines speaker tour

When: 14-31 March
Where: Eight cities around the UK
Speakers: Guest speakers from South Africa and Kenya, as well as campaigners in the UK

Book your tickets now

The global response to Covid-19 has been so unequal that some global south activists have called it ‘vaccine apartheid’. While those of us in the UK have been offered third and even fourth doses of the vaccine, across the whole of Africa only 11% are double jabbed. This injustice is rooted in a colonial history that has devalued the lives of people in the global south over centuries. And it is reinforced by global economic rules designed to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of multinational corporations in the global north.

For the pharmaceutical industry, making massive amounts of money for their wealthy shareholders has long been more important than the lives of people in the global south. Twenty years ago, Big Pharma even sued Nelson Mandela’s government when it tried to import cheaper medicines, because South Africa was unable to afford the astronomically-priced HIV drugs it needed during the Aids crisis.

Come along to hear Fatima Hassan and Maurine Murenga, guest speakers from South Africa and Kenya, discuss an alternative. They will be joined by UK-based academics, politicians, student campaigners, patient advocates and experts in access to medicines. Join our campaign to fight for a decolonised pharmaceutical system.

Register for a local event now:

Brighton, 14 March

Cambridge, 15 March

London, 18 March

Leeds, 19 March

Manchester, 28 March

Leicester, 29 March

Newcastle, 30 March

Stirling, 31 March

You can also help by sharing news of the tour – forward this email or share now:

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In solidarity,
Alena Ivanova,
Campaigner at Global Justice Now

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