Pandemic Unmasked: Equal Threat, Unequal Lives – Civil Society’s pursuit for health equity is available on Vimeo On Demand.

Why do we see a deadly disparity in access to medical care amidst a pandemic? This documentary reveals how the conflicts between intellectual property rights (IPRs) and the right to access medical care resurfaced in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and presents the global civil society’s fight for health equity.

COVID-19 has been affecting people across the world, but there are disparities in terms of treatment and medical care. While the infection has spread throughout the Global North and the Global South, tests, vaccines, medicines, and medical care have never been equally distributed.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing poverty and inequalities, and revealed the problems of intellectual property rights in the global economic system. More than 100 countries, including India and South Africa, campaigned for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to implement a temporary waiver of intellectual property protection on vaccines and other medical products related to COVID-19. A global movement was organized to push this proposal, as medical professionals, NGOs, and civil society across the world joined the cause. However, the proposal was met with strong opposition from developed countries, who stand on the side of the interests of global pharmaceutical companies.

What is behind the inequalities in the lives of people? The struggles over intellectual property rights reflect the problem of our current economic system which prioritizes profit over people’s lives.

“No one is safe until everyone is safe.” Equity of access to healthcare has not yet been achieved.

[2023 / 43 min.]

• Supervised by “Equal Health and Medical Access on COVID-19 for All!” Japan Network
• Directed by Katsunori Yamaguchi
• Funded by Open Society Foundations
• Produced by Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC)

This film is a production of Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC) based in Tokyo, Japan. The development of the film was in part supported by funding provided by Open Society Foundations (OSF).

Watch on Vimeo on Demand

Price

• Rental: 5.00 USD for 72 hour streaming
• Buy: 15.00 USD for unlimited streaming

This is an English-subtitled version of a film originally produced in Japanese. The original Japanese version is also available:
『新型コロナが映す いのちの格差―公正な医療アクセスを求める世界の市民社会』