The Ford Foundation announced this week that it would commit $16 million in grants to organizations working in the global south as part of a broad effort to promote COVID-19 vaccine equity — which also includes the foundation’s support for a waiver of intellectual property rights on coronavirus vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
Sign up for Devex CheckUp
The must-read weekly newsletter for exclusive global health news and insider insights.
Under the newly unveiled “special initiative,” Ford said it is partnering with the People’s Vaccine Alliance to advocate for “equal and fair access” to vaccines, as well as with the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and the Entertainment Industry Foundation to combat vaccine hesitancy.
“The pandemic has uncovered deep structural inequities in our global systems, and people will continue to needlessly die of this virus until we make lasting, meaningful change,” Ford Foundation President Darren Walker said in a statement. “Inaction is not an option.”
The foundation said the $16 million in grant-making would be used to help international, regional, and local organizations provide immediate relief and to advocate for a global vaccination rate of 70% within the next 12 months. Grantees will include groups such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Equal International, Third World Network, and Oxfam America.
Ford also said the funding would promote “long-term thinking to reimagine global systems of intellectual property and financing to ensure that the world responds more equitably to future global pandemics.”
As part of that effort, the foundation said it would push for a COVID-19-related waiver to the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS. The agreement provides patent protections for WTO members. Ford said it wants to see a shift away from a “charity model” in which the majority of the world’s medicines supply is controlled by wealthy nations.
“The pandemic has uncovered deep structural inequities in our global systems, and people will continue to needlessly die of this virus until we make lasting, meaningful change.”
— Darren Walker, president, Ford FoundationVaccine equity has become a hot-button issue among philanthropies and international bodies. A proposed TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics has been divisive, with proponents arguing that the waiver would accelerate the transfer of manufacturing technology and capacity while opponents say it would reduce incentives for companies to develop vaccines.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initially opposed waiving some provisions of TRIPS but reversed course in May.
About the author
Stephanie Beasley@Steph_Beasley
Stephanie Beasley is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global philanthropy with a focus on regulations and policy. She is an alumna of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and Oberlin College and has a background in Latin American studies. She previously covered transportation security at POLITICO.