On Tuesday 2 June, over 35 RESULTS UK grassroots advocates from all over the country (and internationaly!) joined our monthly conference call. It was the start of National Volunteers Week so we began the call with a big thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who give up their time to take action to end global poverty. We had a roundup of updates about previous monthly actions, campaigns and events that have happened across the network. 

We then turned to the topic of the June monthly action – COVID-19 equity. We were joined by expert speaker Dr. Srinivas Murthy, a critical care and infectious diseases doctor and academic physician based in Vancouver. Dr. Murthy has long researched global health equity and chairs the WHO committee on COVID-19 preparedness and access to therapeutics. Dr. Murthy answered questions about the inequity of access to to COVID-19 vaccines, the barriers many countries face, issues of supply, and potential solutions. We heard about the unequal spread of doses around the world and the importance of knowledge and technology transfers, waiving Intellectual Property Rights and ensuring that distribution is fair. 

We’ll be writing to our MPs urging for the UK to urgently share COVID-19 doses through COVAX and not to count this as UK aid. Dose sharing is one immediate step towards COVID-19 equity but needs to be part of wider, structural changes. Check out our ‘COVID-19 Vaccinations for All’ action materials for information and guidance on taking action – and take action!
 

If you missed the call or want to re-watch it, here is the recording:

Correction: The RESULTS UK National Conference is on Saturday 11 September and Sunday 12 September. 

Links shared during the call:

Volunteers’ Week social media resources

 
International conference agenda (Saturday 12 June & Sunday 13 June)