Rich Countries Trample Poor Countries in Race for Medical Supplies
Coronavirus knows no borders, but that hasn’t stopped leaders of developed countries from trying to put their citizens first, often at the expense of developing nations, and jeopardizing the international efforts needed to end the COVID-19 pandemic.
Countries around the world are competing for limited medical supplies and equipment, from ventilators to face masks. The competition is driving up prices at the same time supply chains are breaking down amid the pandemic, with workers under stay-at-home orders and travel bans upending transportation routes. With a bigger purse, wealthier countries are automatically at an advantage to purchase the scarce supplies, even at astronomical prices.
Although many developing countries have not reported the high number of COVID-19 cases seen in the United States and Europe, that’s probably mostly due to a lack of testing, and not the absence of the virus. Chemical reagents required for testing samples are one of the necessary supplies already being snapped up by the U.S. and Europe. Even middle-income countries like South Africa are being left behind, unable to access reagents for testing kits, a crucial part of tracking the spread of the virus.
But the lack of testing kits is just the tip of the iceberg, for what is a much larger disparity between rich and poor countries. Rich countries are home to countless medical, pharmaceutical, and biotech companies, and country leaders are leaning on them to prioritize their country’s access. For example, U.S. President Donald Trump publicly called out 3M, one of the world’s largest producers of face masks and other protective equipment, urging them not to export face masks to Canada and Latin America. But 3M, a Minnesota-based company, criticized Trump’s request and warned of “significant humanitarian implications” if masks were withheld from developed and developing countries alike. Eventually, President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, and 3M agreed to supply the United States with an addition 55.5 million masks. While U.S. hospitals continue to face shortages of medical equipment, more supplies in the U.S. certainly translates to fewer supplies elsewhere, including in less developed countries with already under resourced hospitals.
In many developing regions across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, health care systems are already underfunded and stretched to capacity. When rich countries monopolize person protective equipment (PPE), doctors and nurses in already difficult situations will suffer. Without PPE, doctors and nurses are likely to fall ill, incapacitating them. But that hasn’t stopped at least 69 countries from limiting the export of medical equipment, including China and Europe. In these uncertain times, nationalistic sentiments have trumped the sober reality that an international effort is needed to curb the spread of coronavirus.
But it’s not all bad news. Some companies and philanthropists are working to serve vulnerable populations around the globe. Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has donated millions of masks to African countries, while British testing manufacturer, Mologic, has agreed to share its technology to make affordable testing kits in Senegal. Wha’ts more, the Chinese government and Cuba have both dispatched medical workers to Italy, to help battle that country’s deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Health experts agree that it’s in everyone’s best interest to create a united front across countries and regions to fight the pandemic. Eventually, when travel bans are loosened, the risk of spreading coronavirus across borders will resume, until a vaccine is found. Even then, which country first produces a vaccine, and how quickly and cheaply it can be distributed to vulnerable populations will also no doubt show the gap between the countries with deep pockets, and those who do not.