Listen Live on KKFI
Every Thursday at 5:30amAbout the Show
Making Contact
"Making Contact" is produced by International Media Project, an independent, non-profit organization founded in 1994, committed to investigative journalism, in-depth critical analysis, the promotion of civic participation and the dissemination of educational material. Its core focus is National Radio Project, the team that creates Making Contact.
At the beginning of the pandemic, we reported on the extreme inequality of the vaccine rollout to low income countries. Their access was hindered because of a western patent system imposed globally through the World Trade Organization. At the time, activists tried to pass some activists tried to pass something called the TRIPS waiver, which would have suspended all patents related to COVID-19, not just for vaccines, but for all therapeutics and protective equipment. But as the world moved on from COVID-19, so did the efforts for equity.
The TRIPS Waiver failed to provide access to medicines, and poor countries never received the vaccines they were promised.
But the global south is fighting back. On today’s show we look back at the failures of the early pandemic and we look forward, at new initiatives led by scientists and activists to circumvent patents and create broader access to medicines.
Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org. [https://www.radioproject.org/2024/05/survival-for-all-securing-vaccines-for-the-global-south/]
Making Contact [https://radioproject.org/] is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.
