Technology transfer as a U.S. foreign policy priority
Supporting diversified global South local manufacturing is a strategy to improve sustainable, equitable supply of lifesaving medical tools.
During the pandemic, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) seeking access to COVID-19 vaccines were forced to rely on the goodwill of big pharmaceutical companies and high-income countries that had bought up much of the initial global supply of doses.
The consequences of this were extreme inequalities in access, unreliable and belated supplies for LMICs; an estimated 1.3 million deaths could have been averted had doses been shared equitably in the first year of the pandemic.