VACCINE EQUITY

November 18, 2021

Vaccine Equity

The Transformational Dialogues coalition stands in solidarity with calls for globally equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics and greater protection for health care workers. The striking disparities between high and low-income countries as wealthy countries stockpile supplies and roll out boosters, leaving most of the world’s population vulnerable and enabling the virus to further spread and mutate, illustrate the very neocolonialism, unconscious biases and gross inequities that we seek to eradicate.

Regardless of where they are in the world, all healthcare workers should be prioritized for access to vaccines, testing, and treatments. In particular, the surgical and anesthesia workforce continues to be especially vulnerable. In managing the preponderance of respiratory symptoms, anesthesia providers have been on the frontlines of COVID-19 patient care, caring for the sickest patients in intensive care units.

Surgical patients have suffered disproportionately, with millions of critical life-saving and life-altering surgeries cancelled or delayed worldwide due to COVID-19 – an ongoing situation in many low and middle income countries as resources are diverted in response to the pandemic.

As we write, November 18, 2021 only 4.7% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Transformational Dialogues coalition advocates for and supports implementation of actions that accelerate vaccine justice. We call for increased investments in surgical, anesthesia, obstetric and nursing care both as essential components of every health system and because of their critical role in infection control and pandemic preparedness. And we call for active involvement of surgical, anesthesia, obstetric and nursing experts in crafting equitable solutions to COVID-19 care delivery, prevention strategies, and public health approaches, as we build meaningful blueprints for how such public health disasters can be mitigated and optimally managed in the future.

The Transformational Dialogues is a broad coalition of individuals and organizations from the global surgery community working to identify and address issues of neocolonialism and inequities in global surgery.

#TransformationalDialogues and #DecolonizingGlobalSurgery