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THE 11 MARCH 2020 marked the 2nd year anniversary since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic.
Since then, Covid-19 has led to over 506 million infections worldwide, and 6.2 million deaths, with such figures likely an underestimate. It has brought devastating social and economic consequences.
While high-income countries, like Ireland, have recently eased most health-emergency measures, high Covid-19 case numbers continue and the pandemic’s impact remains significant and ongoing.
Global access to effective vaccines, diagnostics, and medicines against Covid-19 is key to bringing, and keeping, the pandemic under control. Yet, two years into this, significant inequalities remain around access to Covid-19 vaccines globally: over 71.9% of people in high-income countries have access to Covid-19 vaccines, compared to 15.2% of people in low-income countries. This lack of vaccine access globally increases the risks of new waves of the virus, and ultimately, threatens control of Covid-19 everywhere.
Access to vaccines
Each of us can play a role in achieving global vaccine equity. Yet one often overlooked, but powerful avenue for the public to influence this landscape is to question how our money, including our personal investments and pensions, is being invested, and to use our voice as shareholders to influence the behaviour of companies where our money is invested.
More specifically, the public can seek to collectively leverage its power as shareholders/investors to influence how companies holding intellectual property rights over Covid-19 vaccines and other health technologies are using these rights and sharing vaccine know-how globally.
In this context, intellectual property rights play an important role in how health technologies are accessed. An intellectual property right allows rightsholders to stop others from using patented technologies (e.g. elements of a Covid-19 vaccine). As such, rightsholders can control who can access and use patented technologies, and on what terms, generally for up to 20 years.
Many rightsholders of health technologies are companies, therefore, how companies use their intellectual property rights is an important factor in how healthcare is delivered.
Within those companies, shareholders could play a crucial role in influencing corporate decision-making over patented health technologies, including Covid-19 vaccines, medicines and diagnostics.
Shareholders’ influence
Drivers of corporate decision-making focus on the view that companies should be run for the benefit of the shareholders. Traditionally, this has been interpreted as the need to focus almost exclusively on maximising shareholders’ profits.
However, recent examples show shareholders are using their voice to influence company actions in the Covid-19 context to push companies to consider broader societal considerations, demanding that the focus in corporate decision-making goes beyond simply profit making.
For example, in April 2020, over 40 shareholders called on pharmaceutical companies to work to combat Covid-19. The group called for short-term financial considerations to take “second place” and for there to be a focus on ending the pandemic.
In November 2021, Oxfam America introduced shareholder resolutions calling on Pfizer and Moderna to commission independent reports on the feasibility of transferring intellectual property and know-how to facilitate the production of Covid-19 vaccines by manufacturers in low-and middle-income countries.
As Robbie Silverman, Oxfam America’s Senior Manager for Private Sector Engagement stated, “as long-term investors, we urge these companies to take immediate action to save lives and end the pandemic once and for all.”
Most recently, in April 2022, it was reported that the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS – a leading shareholder advisory body) recommended that investors vote in favour of the resolutions introduced by Oxfam America. Alongside this, a separate resolution filed by Oxfam America called on Johnson & Johnson to provide greater transparency around pricing for the company’s Covid-19 vaccines given the public funding supporting such vaccines’ development.
Mobilising change
Such moves are becoming more common and are an important avenue that could be used to help achieve change: with growing shareholder demands that companies consider broader societal interests these voices will become increasingly difficult for companies to ignore.
This could impose greater pressure on companies to actively consider the effects of their corporate decision-making on society and would align with broader moral and pragmatic arguments around the need for global access to vaccines and other Covid-19 health technologies.
As the world continues to grapple with Covid-19, shareholder engagement can, and should, be harnessed to exert pressure on corporate actors to provide greater access to vital health technologies. Indeed others, including Dr Peter Singer, Special Advisor to the Director-General of the World Health Organization have also urged, company shareholders and boards of directors to use their voices to work to solve global vaccine inequity.
As Dr Singer aptly puts it: “As board members and investors you can stop the carnage from vaccine inequity and make the world safer in the future. Will you?”
The power and voice of shareholders could be an important driver to encourage and force companies to give greater account to the effects of corporate decision-making on society, particularly in the healthcare context.
Shareholders have the potential, and arguably a duty, to engage further in this context: to start by questioning how their money is invested, to understand what corporates do with such investments, and to use their voice to seek to encourage and shape corporate actions and decision-making in a way that enables greater access to health-technologies for (and beyond) Covid-19.
Prof Aisling McMahon is a Professor of Law at the School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University. Dr Edana Richardson is an Assistant Professor at the School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University.
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In my opinion every major problem in the country at present simply stems from the fact that we cannot cope with our population increasing by 50 percent in the last 30 years.
We have a civil and public service rooted in the 18th century ( to administer the British Empire) trying to cope with a set of 21st century issues.
Not sure what the solutions are, but a good place to start is admitting you have a problem in the first place, and unfortunately I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
@Gerry Kelly: Ireland’s economy has expanded in multiples of that over the same period. As a country without resources, people are needed or Ireland goes back to the 70s/80s when no one had a job.
Successive governments have failed to recognise the population growth. New infrastructure and perhaps even whole new cities are needed. We have the space but no capacity. Not recognising this is where the responsibility lays.
@Gerry Kelly: spot on
@Gerry Kelly: Gerry that’s exactly it. They’re all stuck in the past and they can’t move forward for a modern Ireland what we need for future generations. I think it’s time to get rid of the old school system and bring in younger thinking people including getting rid of governments who do not provide value for money. Ireland looks great on paper but when you open the press everything falls out, it’s like a third world country the way it’s been run absolutely no logic whatsoever. Stuck in the past.
@Panti Bliss: we were told they are great for our economy. Aren’t they enriching the owner of the red cow hotel?
@Bren: I think everyone would agree with you but there is not one in government or opposition that fits that bill.
Ireland’s yo-yo economy repeatedly swings from property booms to devastating busts.
Each crisis is driven by inadequate government policies. 1970s,1980s, early 1990s, 2008 & a new one on the horizon.
When will a government understand housing should not be a commodity and overheating an economy will consistently cause a bust with profound economic distress….
@Bat Boy: apparently the government have finally listened to the irish fiscal advisory council and are using the apple tax money in a counter-cyclical way. They will spend it on infrastructure and housing when the next crash comes.
This should keep more builders in work at that time, stop them from emigrating, and develop a lot of the infrastructure when it is a bit cheaper to do it. And it will help get ireland out of its recession and to not overheat the economy now.
The government also has a lot of unspent funds for construction, because the industry doesn’t have the workforce to absorb it all.
The article is about regulations and planning, which do need to be sorted out.
@Brian Lynch: so at least some acknowledge there will be a crash
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: really? When?
@Bat Boy: Don’t be such a crackpot Marxist. Building a house takes materials, labor and capital, none of which are free. If you strip away the profit motive, who exactly is supposed to invest in building homes? Governments, who can’t even fill potholes efficiently? Houses don’t just appear out of thin air! Every essential good and service in society operates under supply and demand. The alternative is government rationing, which leads to shortages and inefficiency. Some of the biggest housing disasters in modern history came from this idea that housing should be a “human right” instead of a commodity. The Soviet Union, Venezuela, Cuba and East Germany have tried this and miserably failed. Government-controlled housing led to tiny, overcrowded apartments and decades-long waiting lists.
@Bat Boy: Every country has a boom and bust…..is the government in charge of all countries?
Governments promising x number of houses per year is absolutely hilarious and one of the biggest election sham promises possible to drop to the public. NO government builds houses. They can waffle about policies all they want. If it’s not profitable enough for the private contractors to build then no mass building will be done, if man power and skills isn’t available to build at the speed required it won’t be done. sites will sit there and no amount of spin and waffle on the news and radio is changing that.
@Dan The Man: If building houses was such a money spinner why are billions and billions sitting idly in savings accounts. The chilling effect of the risk of a left wing government is still in the background even though the media failed to get them elected recently.
@thomas molloy: the short answer is that the banks can make more profit from lending thos money to the ECB than risking it on loans to property developers.
The government is complicit in this as a shareholder in aib
It’s all as it is supposed to be.
High prices = more tax revenue.
High rents suit our politicians
especially those with multiple rentals.
Enormous numbers of other rental properties owned by Chinese/US or Canadian investment firms they would not be investing if not highly profitable and they are controlling the rental prices to suit.
Plus on the quiet our government are pouring money (your taxes) in to NGOs here for purchasing homes in bulk but they don’t ever mention these.
Funny how not investing in infrastructure for years seems to have nothing to do with either ff or fg considering one or the other has been in power since the establishment of the state…
This mess on housing was made by FF or FG led governments. Minister in the late 1980′s scrapping building apprenticeships and wider apprenticeship schemes has caught up. whilst large swathes of public owner land banks in county council hands was given away to the political funder builder buddies of FF and FG for miniscule amounts of money. Corruption of various tribunals adds to the mes.
Well, what a surprise (not)!!!!
Another disaster from the government how much more of this is Ireland actually going to accept , whatever happened to the fighting Irish getting out on the streets and telling the government we want better services for our taxes I think sometimes they forget they work for us , as this is disgraceful in 2025
@Bren: the problem is with the electorate, we prefer to get a few quid in the budget rather than be grown ups and spend the money on infrastructure projects that will benefit the people. Imagine a political party saying they want to increase taxes to pay for a reservoir that won’t be finished for 10 years, they wouldn’t have a chance of getting elected.
No roads,no water,no sewage,no apprenticeships,NO HOUSES…simple as.
Unfortunately, the sham government we have thinks about nothing only Europe and Europe only, stay at home, roll up your sleeves, and get stuff sorted ye overpaid fat C##ts
Not true. Huge well connected area in D13 on which developers are just sitting for decades. They gamble on more lucrative planning permissions or they won’t built.
A good article. A good example of why simplistic calls to just ’build more houses’ ignore the more nuanced issues. Could be said for a lot of topics here and abroad. Simple answers to complex questions seem neat and tidy but can often reflect a naivety.
Maybe we SHOULD spend the money on missiles after all. Less houses to get blown up during an inevitable crushing invasion lasting 1 hour.
Can all those people with their plans f off abroad. And build their inferstructur.. My local area has lost facilities in recent years due to increasing population.
I’m living in missile silo in my parents back garden hoping war does not break out. Cosy multi story!
Goes back to a 1980′s led FF government scrapped all building apprenticeship schemes and sold off all County a d state ka d banks to their business and building landlord FG buddies for a song. We’re all paying for that hubris
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