Pandemics, intellectual property and ‘our economy’: A worldview analysis of Canada’s role in compromising global access to COVID-19 vaccines
ABSTRACTDespite self-congratulatory rhetoric, Canada compromised COVID-19 vaccine equity with policies impeding a proposed global waiver of vaccine intellectual property (IP) rules. To learn from Canada’s vaccine nationalism we explore the worldview – a coherent textual picture of the world – in a s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Global Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17441692.2024.2335360 |
| _version_ | 1797204268726353920 |
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| author | Ben Brisbois Katrina Plamondon David Walugembe Rodrigo Curty Pereira Christine Edet Jenna Dixon Roojin Habibi Mohammad Karamouzian Ronald Labonté Srinivas Murthy Vardit Ravitsky |
| author_facet | Ben Brisbois Katrina Plamondon David Walugembe Rodrigo Curty Pereira Christine Edet Jenna Dixon Roojin Habibi Mohammad Karamouzian Ronald Labonté Srinivas Murthy Vardit Ravitsky |
| author_sort | Ben Brisbois |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACTDespite self-congratulatory rhetoric, Canada compromised COVID-19 vaccine equity with policies impeding a proposed global waiver of vaccine intellectual property (IP) rules. To learn from Canada’s vaccine nationalism we explore the worldview – a coherent textual picture of the world – in a sample of Government of Canada communications regarding global COVID-19 vaccine sharing. Analysed documents portray risks and disparities as unrelated to the dynamics and power relations of the Canadian and international economies. Against this depoliticised backdrop, economic growth fueled by strict IP rules and free trade is advanced as the solution to inequities. Global vaccine access and distribution are pursued via a charity-focused public-private-partnership approach, with proposals to relax international IP rules dismissed as unhelpful. Rather than a puzzling lapse by a good faith ‘middle power’, Canada’s obstruction of global COVID-19 vaccine equity is a logical and deliberate extension of dominant neoliberal economic policy models. Health sector challenges to such models must prioritise equity in global pandemic governance via politically assertive and less conciliatory stances towards national governments and multilateral organisations. Mobilisation for health equity should transform the overall health-damaging macroeconomic model, complementing efforts based on specific individual health determinants or medical technologies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T08:32:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-92db9a23c56b41f5acdb8b019b1a3019 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1744-1692 1744-1706 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T08:32:32Z |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-92db9a23c56b41f5acdb8b019b1a30192024-04-16T19:11:39ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGlobal Public Health1744-16921744-17062024-12-0119110.1080/17441692.2024.2335360Pandemics, intellectual property and ‘our economy’: A worldview analysis of Canada’s role in compromising global access to COVID-19 vaccinesBen Brisbois0Katrina Plamondon1David Walugembe2Rodrigo Curty Pereira3Christine Edet4Jenna Dixon5Roojin Habibi6Mohammad Karamouzian7Ronald Labonté8Srinivas Murthy9Vardit Ravitsky10School of Health Sciences, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, CanadaSchool of Nursing, University of British Columbia - Okanagan, Kelowna, CanadaSchool of Nursing, University of British Columbia - Okanagan, Kelowna, CanadaDepartment of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, CanadaSchool of Nursing, University of British Columbia - Okanagan, Kelowna, CanadaSchool of Nursing, University of British Columbia - Okanagan, Kelowna, CanadaFaculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, CanadaCentre on Drug Policy Evaluation, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, CanadaSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, CanadaDepartment of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CanadaSchool of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montréal, CanadaABSTRACTDespite self-congratulatory rhetoric, Canada compromised COVID-19 vaccine equity with policies impeding a proposed global waiver of vaccine intellectual property (IP) rules. To learn from Canada’s vaccine nationalism we explore the worldview – a coherent textual picture of the world – in a sample of Government of Canada communications regarding global COVID-19 vaccine sharing. Analysed documents portray risks and disparities as unrelated to the dynamics and power relations of the Canadian and international economies. Against this depoliticised backdrop, economic growth fueled by strict IP rules and free trade is advanced as the solution to inequities. Global vaccine access and distribution are pursued via a charity-focused public-private-partnership approach, with proposals to relax international IP rules dismissed as unhelpful. Rather than a puzzling lapse by a good faith ‘middle power’, Canada’s obstruction of global COVID-19 vaccine equity is a logical and deliberate extension of dominant neoliberal economic policy models. Health sector challenges to such models must prioritise equity in global pandemic governance via politically assertive and less conciliatory stances towards national governments and multilateral organisations. Mobilisation for health equity should transform the overall health-damaging macroeconomic model, complementing efforts based on specific individual health determinants or medical technologies.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17441692.2024.2335360Narrativediscoursehealth equityforeign policyneoliberalism |
| spellingShingle | Ben Brisbois Katrina Plamondon David Walugembe Rodrigo Curty Pereira Christine Edet Jenna Dixon Roojin Habibi Mohammad Karamouzian Ronald Labonté Srinivas Murthy Vardit Ravitsky Pandemics, intellectual property and ‘our economy’: A worldview analysis of Canada’s role in compromising global access to COVID-19 vaccines Global Public Health Narrative discourse health equity foreign policy neoliberalism |
| title | Pandemics, intellectual property and ‘our economy’: A worldview analysis of Canada’s role in compromising global access to COVID-19 vaccines |
| title_full | Pandemics, intellectual property and ‘our economy’: A worldview analysis of Canada’s role in compromising global access to COVID-19 vaccines |
| title_fullStr | Pandemics, intellectual property and ‘our economy’: A worldview analysis of Canada’s role in compromising global access to COVID-19 vaccines |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pandemics, intellectual property and ‘our economy’: A worldview analysis of Canada’s role in compromising global access to COVID-19 vaccines |
| title_short | Pandemics, intellectual property and ‘our economy’: A worldview analysis of Canada’s role in compromising global access to COVID-19 vaccines |
| title_sort | pandemics intellectual property and our economy a worldview analysis of canada s role in compromising global access to covid 19 vaccines |
| topic | Narrative discourse health equity foreign policy neoliberalism |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17441692.2024.2335360 |
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