Page 27 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 14
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“Pharmaceutical companies are business companies and
              like all business companies, their main objective is to                               Wholeness
            maximise profit while reducing cost of production. ...De-
             veloping countries hold a large reservoir of diseases and          ency and accountability, countries

             the required number of patients can be recruited within            can also take measures to hold them
              a short duration. Also, compensation for lost time and            to account. A sign of hope in this
             wages paid to research participants in developing coun-            regard comes from a recent case in
              tries is small compared to what is payable to research            Uganda. The high court only recent-
                                                                                ly, in the case Mukoda v Internation-
                       participants in developed countries.”                    al AIDS Vaccine Initiative, set out
                               -Dr. Patrick I. Okonta                           guidelines for obtaining informed
                                                                                consent from the subjects of human
                                                                                clinical drug trials.
          effectiveness of a global vaccination   “We have to also put in the hard
          effort that requires mass participa-  work of providing the correct in-  For 29-year-old Bello and Maryam,
          tion to be effective.              formation about the safety, effec-  the 1996 meningitis outbreak and its
                                             tiveness of vaccines and clear the   after effect remains a bitter pill to
          Dr. Samaila Suleiman, a lecturer of   doubts and misconceptions that   swallow and bolsters intense skep-
          History at the Bayero University   exist,” he added.                  ticism about the Covid-19 vaccine
          Kano, during an interview with                                        and the pharmaceutical industry in
          Unbias the News, argued that the   These doubts may be difficult to   general.
          skepticism over COVID-19 vaccine   disprove when pharmaceutical
          can be traced to historical cynicism   companies remain unrepentant for   “I am skeptical about taking
          against the motives of western in-  previous mistreatment of patients   any vaccine now. I won’t take
          dustrialized powers in Africa.     in Africa and elsewhere, settling   COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer or a
          Theories like these continue to    disputes with out-of-court payments   different pharmaceutical company,”
          flourish, from religious leaders in   cloaked in secrecy. In the case of the   Bello reiterates.
          the country who continue to advo-  Kano State, part of the damages re-
          cate and lobby worshippers against   quested from Pfizer included funds   As health advocates struggle to fight
          taking the vaccines as it leads to a   to educate the public and dispel   disinformation and conspiracy theo-
          5G frequency radiation, to those   myths about the safety of Western   ries about the COVID-19 vaccines,
          who argue that the virus is a hoax by   medicine.                     it is important to remember that in
          big pharmaceuticals to profiteer off                                  some countries distrust stems not
          vaccine sales.                     But as large pharmaceutical compa-  only from ignorance, but also from
                                             nies may continue to lack transpar-  experience.
          Can Transparency Fight Hesitancy?
          Some Western nations are not only
          sufficient in distribution, they are
          also rolling out incentives, from $1   The Nuremberg Code
          million cash prizes to a free dinner
          and education scholarships as part     The Nuremberg Code is part of the international system that emerged
          of their efforts to boost vaccination   after World War II, with its focus on respect for human rights, individu-
          rates.                                 al autonomy, and informed consent. In the aftermath of World War 11

                                                 in 1945, the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal held a series of
          In situations where vaccine safety is   trials against major war criminals and Nazi sympathizers.  The verdict
          one of the underlying causes of vac-
          cine hesitancy what are the chances    then led to the creation of the Nuremberg Code.
          for these communities? “We recog-
          nize that vaccine hesitancy is a glob-
          al phenomenon,” Dr. Faisal Shuaib,
          ED/CEO of the Nigerian National        Mukoda v. International Aids Vaccine Initiative
          Primary Healthcare Development
          Agency opined, “as public health       “In any research on human beings, each potential subject must
          experts, we must do more than offer    be adequately informed of  the aims, methods, sources of  fund-
          the vaccine”.                          ing, any possible conflicts of  interest, institutional affiliations of

                                                 the researcher, the anticipated benefits and potential risks of  the
                                                 study and the discomfort it may entail.”

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