WHO says “Africa will not be a testing ground for vaccine”

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom said in a video press conference on Monday that “Africa cannot and will not be a testing ground for any vaccine... whether it’s in Europe, Africa, or wherever, we will use the same protocol”. 
Although his words may have good intentions behind them, this doesn’t change the fact the WHO themselves have contributed to the funding of projects that allowed the US to perform unethical and dangerous testing on people in Africa. A key example is the AZT trials in Zimbabwe in the 90’s.

Even so, the WHO may claim to condemn the idea of testing in Africa, however this will not stop companies such as Boehringer Ingelheim and Pfizer from doing so. Companies such as those prey on vulnerability of many African nations being unable to provide adequate health care for their citizens. They use this as a way to pressurise Africans into making ill-informed decisions. 

It’s time that we start holding these Organisations and companies accountable for their wrongdoing.