I had to queue for more than five hours to get a monkeypox vaccine. Thousands of people in at-risk groups haven't been so fortunate and it's about to get worse. Britain, which is one of the centers of the outbreak, is expecting to run out of vaccine in the next couple of weeks.
It is a race against time to stop monkeypox from becoming an endemic disease. At that point, we will be stuck with it, and it will continue to circulate at low levels indefinitely, with the possibility of new and more dangerous variant. Lives will be lost even if it gets no worse. Several groups, including small children, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems, are at risk of contracting the disease.
The government is to be blamed for years of damaging cuts to sexual health services. The pharmaceutical system puts profits ahead of the protection of human life.
The only approved vaccine for monkeypox is supplied by aDanish pharmaceutical company. The bulk production line has been closed for repairs. The company has millions of doses in the freezer, but it takes a lot of work to get them into vials. Other factories are needed to help with this. The majority of the doses have been bought by the US and trickled down to other high-income countries.
The vaccine, known as Jynneos, Imvamune or Imvanex, was put on hold in the event of a biological terrorist attack. It was funded by the US government but also patented. Who can make the vaccine, how many doses are made, who gets to buy them, and what price are all decided by Bavarian Nordic.
The world's largest pharmaceutical company is not Bavarian Nordic. Next to the pharma giants, its revenues are a drop. If only one of the bigger players would share their knowhow, the company would be able to make Covid vaccines. The offer wasn't accepted.
The shoe is not on the floor. Bavarian Nordic is interested in licensing its vaccine to other manufacturers. Leaving production to the market can be slow and opaque. It would be terrible to see this happen again. Africa has suffered more deaths from monkeypox than any other part of the world, yet it hasn't received a single dose of vaccine.
For many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Covid-19 proved that they couldn't depend on the western pharmaceutical companies to provide them with medicines. When it was clear to everyone that we wanted to stamp out Covid-19, the vaccines were not available. In Britain, we were getting third and fourth doses, while many countries had not received a single vaccine at all.
Several southern governments increased their research, development and manufacturing capacity to prepare for the future. Some of the factories may be able to help us with the monkeypox.
It would be impossible to miss this chance to bring the situation under control. We should be able to expand vaccine production as quickly as possible by sharing knowledge and patents with Bavarian Nordic. The company will make a lot of money by selling as much as they can. The price of its stock has tripled. The company needs to share the knowledge so other people can benefit from it.
If we are to address the fact that many people in the world don't matter in our pharmaceutical model, then this is crucial. In a few African countries, monkeypox has been a problem for a long time. We did nothing until the outbreak spread to the west. The vaccine isn't registered in countries where the disease is endemic, which means it can't be used to treat diseases in the poorer countries. It seems that the medicines are used to protect us from diseases. The policy is shortsighted and unethical.
We have to approach public health emergencies with both hands tied behind our backs.
In the late 1980s, a previous generation of LGBT activists had to fight for their rights to decent healthcare in a deeply discriminatory society. They realized that their marginalisation was part of a much deeper inequality at a global level after they won their battle.
In a system which seems almost comically set up to fail us, gay and bisexual men have to once again fight for their own right to decent healthcare. As we did 30 years ago, we need to join with those in countries that experience this injustice on a permanent basis to challenge pharmaceutical control.
The director is Nick Dearden.
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