Real Solutions for Vaccine Equity

DATE: November 17, 2021
TIME: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Doctors for Vaccine Equity, the People’s Vaccine Alliance Ireland and the Irish Global Health Network are hosting a live web event Real Solutions for Vaccine Equity with leaders in the scientific community in Ireland to call on the Irish government to redistribute vaccines and technology, free of patent restrictions.

The core objective of this event is to harness the ideas and enthusiasm within the scientific community to ensure that we take steps to enhance vaccine equity.  We will be issuing a public statement to coincide with the event calling on the Irish government to recognise the need to redistribute vaccines and technology, free of patent restrictions.

We will also be writing to the Taoiseach and relevant government ministers to discuss our mission statement, and to request a meeting regarding Irish action on vaccine inequity. We would be very grateful if you could indicate  whether you would be happy to support the mission statement (you can add your signature here https://www.amnesty.ie/real-solutions-for-vaccine-equity/   and medics can sign up at the Doctors for Vaccine Equity petition, which has already gathered around 300 signatures, here).

The event will:

• Provide a forum for discussion about this issue with Irish and International experts

• Show solidarity with the people of the world yet to receive a COVID-19 vaccine

• Issue a clear statement to the Irish government of the need to redistribute vaccines and technology, free of patent restrictions

• Explore the opportunities for forming ‘Scientists for Vaccine Equity’ to advocate on this issue 

Moderated by:

• Prof Cliona O’Farrelly, Chair in Comparative Immunology
• Dr Christine Kelly, Infectious Diseases SpR and Honorary Clinical Fellow at UCD.

 
Speakers include:

• Jim Clarken, CEO, Oxfam Ireland

Jim Clarken is the CEO of Oxfam Ireland and an Executive Director of Oxfam International. He is a Commissioner at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and has recently been appointed at Ireland’s representative at the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the School of Business and Law at UCC.

• Prof Faith Osier, President of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS)

Faith is the current President of the International Union of Immunological Societies. She is Visiting Professor of Malaria Immunology in the Nuffield Dept of Medicine, Oxford University, and holds the prestigious Sofja Kovalevskaja Award from the Alexander Humboldt Foundation as well as an EDCTP Senior Fellowship.

• Achal Prabhala, Coordinator of AccessIBSA

Achal Prabhala is an activist who works on access to medicines and vaccines. He is the coordinator of AccessIBSA, a tri-continental project set up to expand access to new drugs in the developing world, particularly India, Brazil and South Africa.

• Prof Tom Moultrie, Professor of Demography and Director of the Centre for Actuarial Research (CARe), University of Cape Town, South Africa

Tom Moultrie is professor of demography and director of the Centre for Actuarial Research (CARe) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He has been deeply involved in the development of the system that tracks excess mortality in near-real time in South Africa, one of the few such systems in the developing world.

• Prof Cliona Ni Cheallaigh, Consultant in Infectious Diseases at St James’s Hospital and Associate Professor at TCD

Dr Clíona Ní Cheallaigh is an infectious diseases and internal medicine physician in St James’s Hospital, Dublin, and Senior Lecturer in Medical Gerontology. She has extensive clinical and research expertise in immunology, social determinants of health, health equity, and implementation.

• Dr Douglas Hamilton, FRCSI, MSc(Health Econ), MPH, MFPH, MFPHMI

Douglas is Interim Vice Chair and founding member of the Irish Society of Specialists in Public Health Medicine (ISSPHM). He is a Specialist in Public Health Medicine/Medical Officer of Health in the Department of Public Health in the Midlands. He also worked in Global Health and Surgery for 16 years, 11 of which in Africa.

• Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director, Amnesty International Ireland

Colm O’Gorman is Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland. Colm has campaigned extensively at both the national and global level for justice and accountability for victims of sexual violence, and personally initiated ground-breaking litigation on the issue. 

Dr Annie Curtis, President of the Irish Society of Immunology and Senior Lecturer, Dept of Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics RCSI

Dr Annie Curtis, Senior Lecturer, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Science, RCSI.  Her research blends the fields of immunology and circadian biology together. Annie was awarded a SFI Career Development Award in 2017 and an Irish Research Council Laureate Award in 2018. She is a strong advocate for Women in STEM and was awarded a L’Oreal Women in Science Fellowship in 2017. 

 
Co-Chairs

• Prof Cliona O’Farrelly, PhD, Professor of Comparative Immunology TCD

Professor of Comparative Immunology and Chair of Fellows at TCD; honorary secretary and board member of Amnesty International Ireland. She was the first female President of the Irish Society of Immunology (1999-2006) and the first female chair of Fellows of TCD. She has over 30 years research experience in innate and adaptive human immunology.

• Dr Christine Kelly, Infectious Diseases SpR and Honorary Clinical Fellow at UCD

Dr. Christine Kelly is an Infectious Diseases Physician and Clinical Academic with a specialist interest in HIV as a chronic inflammatory disease in low income sub-Saharan Africa. In 2012 she was awarded a prestigious Wellcome Trust Training Fellowship in Global Health and completed a PhD in HIV, Immune activation and Endothelial Dysfunction at the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi.

The seminar will also be inviting brief contributions from attendees. 
This initiative is supported by Peoples Vaccine Alliance Ireland, Doctors for Vaccine Equity,  and the Irish Global Health Network along with individuals, Prof Cathal Walsh and Prof Luke O’Neill.