Pune: At the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) conference on Thursday in Pune, speakers discussed glaring inequities in Covid vaccine development and production.
Out of the total 12.8 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses manufactured in the world, 60% were made in developing countries.
But these nations received only minimal investment for vaccine development.
Rajinder Suri, CEO of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network — a voluntary public health-driven alliance of vaccine manufacturers from developing countries — said the Covid pandemic helped put global vaccination in focus.
“However, we also got to know the disparity in vaccine production and funding between developing and developed countries. As per our data, out of the 12.8 billion doses manufactured in the past 20 months, 60% was manufactured by developing countries mainly India, China, Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea. But compared to the $51 billion in investment the developed countries received, the developing nations got only $5.6 billion,” he said.
Suri added that despite such low investment and funding, the developing countries went on to make huge contributions towards both development and manufacturing of the Covid vaccines.
“These countries are not just making the shots, they are also making great strides in research,” he said.
