‘Profiteering’ of Covid pandemic must never be repeated, world figures warn

Scathing open letter accuses big pharma of exploiting' publically funded vaccines and says humanity must come before commerce

The Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, former first lady of South Africa and Mozambique Graca Machel and former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon are among nearly 200 signatories to a letter calling on governments to never again" allow profiteering and nationalism" to come before the needs of humanity, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a scathing open letter, published on 11 March, current and former presidents and ministers, Nobel laureates, faith leaders, heads of civil society organisations and health experts say Covid-19 vaccines and treatments had been developed with public funding but that pharmaceutical companies had exploited them to fuel extraordinary profits".