Dr Khor Swee Kheng, Physician,Health Systems and Policies Specialist

02-Jul-20 07:37

For the next three months, all stock of Remdesivir has been brought up by the United States, leaving none for the rest of the world.

The drug is the first to be approved by licensing authorities in the US to treat Covid-19 and it has been shown to help people recover faster from the disease, and this unilateral move by the United States has raised alarms about its wider implications, namely in the event when a vaccine becomes available.

This possibly shows the extent of which the Trump administration is willing to go to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the country, so with this in mind, how do we ensure that a potential vaccine can meet global demand and be adequately distributed?