EPISODE

Much of the world’s population, particularly in developing countries, have to wait in line behind citizens of wealthier countries to receive adequate health care. Due to this stark reality, millions needlessly died during the COVID-19 pandemic by not receiving already available vaccines before the virus took their lives. This is a tragedy whose dimensions are rarely considered in places where diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines are readily available.

Hearsay Culture has always been about shining a spotlight on work that you may not know about, but should. For the past 25 years, recently retired Northeastern Law Prof. Brook Baker has been at the forefront of this global battle for equity — known among policymakers and advocates as “access to medicine.” Brook has advocated for resolving these inequities by limiting corporate control over and Western dominance in law creation and market control. In this episode of Hearsay Culture Radio, we take an in-depth look into the struggle for access to healthcare in developing countries and Brook’s personal experiences with teaching during the AIDS crisis in South Africa, which motivates his noble and critical work. 

“We need to deal with future pandemics because another one is going to come that could be much worse than COVID in terms of the virulence of the disease. And are we going to have drug companies, big pharma, call the shots again next time about who gets medicines and who doesn’t, and who gets them early and who gets them late?” 

-Brook Baker

“Every single one of us deserves access to quality, affordable health care.”

-Sara Gideon

Lead Photo by Mykenzie Johnson on Unsplash