Mastodawn

Campaigners threaten legal action over UK-US deal on prices NHS pays for drugs
Two campaign groups claim that change to how NHS treatments are approved amounts to ‘unlawful power grab’ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/18/campaigners-threaten-legal-action-over-uk-us-deal-on-prices-nhs-pays-for-drugs #NHS #access2meds #UKlaw #UKpol

Campaigners threaten legal action over UK-US deal on prices NHS pays for drugs

Two campaign groups claim that change to how NHS treatments are approved amounts to ‘unlawful power grab’

The Guardian

Matthew Rimmer May 10

The Guardian view on the WHO pandemic treaty: the west’s fantasy negotiations have put the world at risk
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/10/the-guardian-view-on-the-who-pandemic-treaty-the-wests-fantasy-negotiations-have-put-the-world-at-risk
After five years of deliberation the global south has forced the question that defined the Covid crisis: who will get the vaccines?
#pandemictreaty #access2meds

The Guardian view on the WHO pandemic treaty: the west’s fantasy negotiations have put the world at risk

Editorial: After five years of deliberation the global south has forced the question that defined the Covid crisis: who will get the vaccines?

The Guardian

Matthew Rimmer Apr 25

An Australian story about the need for accessible and affordable eye care
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-24/woman-chooses-to-go-blind-after-delays-at-adelaide-clinic/106602574

Macular Disease Foundation Australia chief executive Kathy Chapman told 891 ABC Adelaide there was high demand for free and affordable treatment.

"It's a much more common condition than probably the health system has been ready for," she said.
Dr Chapman said about 1.9 million Australians had symptoms of macular disease but only about 40 public hospitals in the nation offered free eye injection treatments.

"In South Australia there's about six public hospitals out of 23 that we contacted that offer this. Compared to some other states, it can be even lower," she said.

"If we can stop people going blind it's a lot less for the health system to be paying than if you have people go blind and the extra supports that they need then."
#access2meds #health #auspol

Woman chooses to go blind in one eye after delays in care

A 47-year-old woman receiving care at a public eye clinic in South Australia says her experience has been so poor she is choosing to go blind in one eye.

Matthew Rimmer Apr 18

Doge devastation of global public health and aid https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/18/trump-administration-usaid-doge-cuts #health #access2meds #USpol #aid

‘Ignorance and cruelty’: former USAID official details devastation inflicted by Doge cuts

Nicholas Enrich was an eyewitness to the dismantling of the US foreign aid organization by the Trump administration

The Guardian

Matthew Rimmer Apr 6

Health minister Mark Butler says federal government is ‘not negotiating’ when it comes to removing price protections on common medications

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/apr/03/australia-says-it-wont-raise-drug-prices-after-trumps-100-tariff-on-pharmaceuticals-imported-into-us

#PBS #health #access2meds #trade #tariffs

Australia says it won’t raise drug prices after Trump’s 100% tariff on pharmaceuticals imported into US

Health minister Mark Butler says federal government is ‘not negotiating’ when it comes to removing price protections on common medications

The Guardian

Matthew Rimmer Mar 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 Rimmer Feb 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 Rimmer Jan 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 Rimmer Jan 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 Rimmer Nov 26, 2025

"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