Matthew RimmerMar 14
US health agreements across the continent promise funding, but demand access to sensitive data and pathogen samples with few guarantees of equitable benefit-sharing.
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/opinions/2026/3/13/uss-new-scramble-for-africa-is-biomedical-imperialism #ABS #access2meds
US’s new scramble for Africa is biomedical imperialism

From Zimbabwe to Zambia, US health deals are raising fears of a new era of biomedical extractivism.

Al Jazeera
Matthew RimmerFeb 9
Moderna faces $5 billion mRNA patent lawsuit after ‘Star Trek’ ruling
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/moderna-faces-5-billion-mrna-patent-lawsuit-after-star-trek-ruling
Judge Wolson used a “Star Trek” metaphor, saying that even with the US Government’s “warp speed” at which the vaccine was developed, the core of patent law is upheld: “don’t copy other people’s inventions.”
#patent #COVID19 #access2meds #uslaw #uspol
Matthew RimmerJan 17

New books at the State Library of Queensland.

Fair Doses: An Insider's Story of the Pandemic and the Global Fight for Vaccine Equity by Seth Berkley https://www.amazon.com.au/Fair-Doses-Insiders-Pandemic-Vaccine/dp/0520413164/

#books #access2meds #health #vaccines #Covid #COVAX #thenextpandemic

While this book does provide a helpful inside account of the foundation and operation of COVAX, and insights into the struggles for vaccine equity, the failure to properly address the civil society debate over intellectual property and access to essential medicines was perplexing.

Matthew RimmerJan 7

Bayer's Monsanto sues Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna over mRNA technology

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-07/monsanto-sues-pfizer-biontech-moderna-over-covid-vaccines/106206038

#patent #COVID19 #access2meds

Bayer's Monsanto sues Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna over messenger RNA technology

Bayer's Monsanto has sued Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna, for allegedly misusing its messenger RNA technology in COVID vaccines. 

ABC News
Matthew RimmerNov 26
"Persistent funding shortfalls and the perilous risks facing the global HIV response are having profound, lasting effects on the health and wellbeing of millions of people throughout the world," the UNAIDS agency said on Tuesday, in a report titled "Overcoming Disruption".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-26/unaids-report-hiv-medicine-shortage-after-aid-cuts-extra-deaths/106054186
The report, released ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1, said UNAIDS's community partners had reported deaths of people living with HIV due to the closure of local clinics and treatment programs, although the exact number of additional deaths remained unclear as data collection was ongoing.
#HIV #AIDS #access2meds #UNAIDS #USpol #Aid #health
UN AIDS body says Trump's foreign aid cuts have killed people and left millions without medicine

The United Nations body charged with fighting the spread of HIV says the Trump administration's cuts to the US foreign aid budget have sent the global aid response into "crisis mode".

ABC News
Matthew RimmerNov 9

US to demand countries share data on ‘pathogens with epidemic potential’ in return for health aid https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/nov/08/us-countries-share-data-pathogens-epidemic-potential-health-aid

Draft template seen by the Guardian has no reference to countries receiving benefits for sharing information, such as guaranteed access to medicines developed as a result. #access2meds #PandemicAgreement #ABS

US to demand countries share data on ‘pathogens with epidemic potential’ in return for health aid

Draft template seen by the Guardian has no reference to countries receiving benefits for sharing information, such as guaranteed access to medicines developed as a result

The Guardian
Matthew RimmerOct 28
Australians with oral cancer forced to drain super or remortgage homes to pay for dental prosthetics because of funding gap https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-28/why-dental-prosthetics-arent-covered-after-cancer/105924804 Professor Clark and his colleagues believe a short-term answer to the issue lies in 3D printing, a technology which has revolutionised medicine in recent years, creating patient-specific devices like prosthetics. #3dprinting #prosthetics #access2meds #health
Australians with oral cancer forced to drain super or remortgage homes to pay for dental prosthetics because of funding gap

Australians with oral cancer are being left tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket to cover dental prosthetics because of a gap in funding.

ABC News
Matthew RimmerOct 2
Implementation of the WHO Pandemic Agreement
WooJung Jon
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12481221/
#COVID19 #access2meds #pandemictreaty
Implementation of the WHO Pandemic Agreement

PubMed Central (PMC)
Matthew RimmerSep 26

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Helen Clark Urge Leaders to Use their Power to Make the World Safer from Pandemic Threats
https://theindependentpanel.org/news/ellen-johnson-sirleaf-and-helen-clark-urge-leaders-to-use-their-power-to-make-the-world-safer-from-pandemic-threats/ 

The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, The Power to Lead for a Safer World, Geneva: United Nations, 19 September 2025, https://theindependentpanel.org/documents/the-power-to-lead-for-a-safer-world_the-independent-panel/
#COVID19 #Pandemictreaty #access2meds #health

Matthew RimmerSep 26
Donald Trump imposes 100 per cent tariffs on branded pharmaceuticals https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-26/breaking-trump-tariff-on-drugs/105820198 #trade #tariffs #access2meds #health
Donald Trump imposes 100 per cent tariffs on branded pharmaceuticals

The United States will impose a 100 per cent tariff on imports of branded or patented pharmaceutical products from October 1, unless a pharmaceutical company is building a manufacturing plant in the US.

ABC News