And then, Salk appeared as a savior with a vaccine that he tested directly on himself and family members. Just two years after Salk’s vaccine became widely available, the number of polio cases has dropped to just one in ten. Salk may have made a fortune from his invention but instead, he donated it to humanity, because in his opinion it is the intellectual property of the common people, like the sun, no one has exclusive rights to own the sun. . Rolling Stone magazine painting depicts pharmaceutical companies as a large vulture profiting from COVID-19. Comparing vaccines to the sun is a linguistic error on Salk’s part, because the sun is a product of the universe (or god), and vaccines are not. In the 18th century, the doctor Edward Jenner made a boy immune to smallpox by taking fluid from the wound of a woman who had had cowpox (a cowpox disease) and injected him, from That was the first time a vaccine was created. While injecting wound fluid from one person into another does not qualify Jenner for any patents, most vaccines today are much more complicated and require a team of experts to spend months, even even years of research and testing. In other words, vaccines are a human invention. However, Salk’s comparison only implies his belief that, in essence, the purpose of science is to serve humanity unconditionally. Salk’s story deserves a repeat at a time when the Biden government has a desire to remove intellectual property rights over vaccines so that poor countries can also access this knowledge and save lives. its citizens. But, many European countries objected. Even the leaders of giant pharmaceutical corporations also objected. They say the move will stifle and destroy the motivation to improve vaccines for businesses and scientists working for them. And they are absolutely correct. Profit is a reward for those who deserve it. Frederick Winslow Taylor, known as the father of scientific management, at the beginning of the 20th century put forward a theory that greatly influenced production systems around the world. Its basic is: money is the motivator. Although there have been many theories with ideas that go against it, after all, it is not Cuba Gooding, Jr. got a supporting role in the movie “Jerry McGuire” thanks to a scene in the phone shouting to the male lead Tom Cruise: “Show me my money!” or what? We all love that line and it’s classic because it’s so real, so raw, so true. Money and profits are very important. Drug companies cannot be told to sacrifice their profits when, as the New York Times puts it, “pharmaceutical corporations are addicted to huge profits”. Calculating from 2000-2018, the world’s 35 largest pharmaceutical corporations alone generated $11.5 trillion in revenue and a net profit of $8.6 trillion. The pharmaceutical industry’s net profit margin is higher than any other industry. And it’s been like that since the mid-1950s. In “Pharmaceuticals: Greed, Lies, and Poisoning America,” author and investigative journalist Gerald Posner recounts the stories of the early days of some of the biggest pharmaceutical giants and how they built their empire. As a story happened in 1990, German company Bayer released a “divine” pain reliever aspirin with a name inspired by “hero” in German. They promote it as a treatment for a dozen diseases: colds, coughs, asthma, epilepsy, stomach cancer, multiple sclerosis, bipolar disorder. They also claim that it is safe for children. Are you curious to know what kind of medicine that cures all diseases is no different from the drugs advertised by quacks on Facebook? Please, that drug is… heroin. Or another story during World War II, when the advent of antibiotics helped pharmaceutical companies to get rid of the reputation of specializing in producing addictive drugs to become pioneers in saving lives, these companies immediately applied for a patent for a series of antibiotics that could be used for many health problems and created a frenzy for doctors to prescribe antibiotics for 90% of the cases when patients came to see them, even though they did not practice them. the need for antibiotics to cure the disease. The disastrous consequences of the antibiotic craze are now starting to become more pronounced. But, that’s okay, for the pharmaceutical companies, it’s important that they make a profit. Profit may not be Salk’s driving force, but it is the driving force of pharmaceutical companies. But today’s world is also much more complicated than before, it is difficult for single individuals to create a specific power because the world is operated by corporations with centipedes growing all over the globe. We can’t tell tigers not to eat meat, that’s their nature and we can’t ask big pharmaceutical companies to be as “humane” as Salk. Illustration of “polio soldier” Jonas Salk on the cover of Time magazine. Pharmaceutical companies also argue that removing patents with COVID-19 vaccines will set a bad precedent and cause many other inventions to be removed in the future. But, they never questioned the fact that, constantly applying for patents also makes everything patentable, even the human genes – which are inherently natural – become obsolete. become someone’s intellectual property. In 2012, a case caused a stir when the biotech company Myriad Genetics was sued for holding a patent for two genes related to ovarian and breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2. They weren’t the only ones at the time who possessed the gene. About 20% of the human genome was then owned by a corporation or a scientist. The petitioner argued that Myriad could not possess genes just as one could not own gold. But, Myriad compared the gene to a baseball bat, although it has natural materials, but cutting out which gene segment is a scientific choice. After many long years, finally Myriad lost the patent but let’s imagine for many years, the gene in our body belongs to someone’s intellectual property, which is very absurd but still blatantly exists. . And after all, does removing some research patents hurt scientists’ motivation to do research? Roentgen refused to apply for a patent for X-rays and what was his reason? His excuse was that it would limit the progress of this discovery! And instead of damaging the motivation for research, his later successors in the field of radioactivity were Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, who were honored not only for their discovery of radium, nor for them. not only because they found radium at the expense of their health, but also because they found radium. Traded his health but gave it away to the world for nothing. You could say Roentgen was already a millionaire by inheriting the family fortune so he didn’t need more money but Marie Curie was different, she was later unable to buy 1 gram of radium, the element she discovered herself. But she never regretted it. Marie Curie said: “Radium is not meant to enrich anyone. Radium is an element and it belongs to man.” Roentgen or Marie Curie are still single individuals. We have the right to hope in the noble hearts of single individuals, but we should not hope in the kindness of tigers, should not hope in the noble hearts of corporations.

The first party was at Amsterdam’s Vondelpark – a green space with a stunning view in the Dutch capital. Hundreds of people celebrate the warm spring days of February together. “This gathering is illegal but we still participate. They couldn’t make us stay at home. We’re bored, ”one woman told Dutch TV. Crowds attend the Field Lab’s concert in early March. Photo: CNN. Video recorded by a local television channel in Amsterdam showed the excitement of young people present at Vondelpark. One guest in attendance stated that they were “fed up” with the epidemic prevention rules. After that, the police arrived and dispersed this crowd. The mayor decided to close all entrances to the park, except for the two gates, so that everyone could come here. The second gathering took place only a few kilometers away at the Ziggo Dome theater. Hundreds of people showed up to enjoy the songs that folk singer André Hazes, Jr. Shows. But this time, the police did not show up. The concert is approved by the Dutch government, not limited to a maximum of 30 people in the enclosed space. Audiences were tested negative for Covid-19 for no more than 48 hours prior to the concert. They also wear electronic bracelets for easy tracing. The concert is essentially part of a test backed by the Dutch government to see if the event planning industry can stand its ground amid a slow rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination. CNN . Vivian Nagelkerke (26), who went to the concert with a friend, said: “It’s like a dream where everything is allowed. I felt lightheaded to go back to the theater. Before the pandemic, I attended 3 concerts a week ”. The attendees have their temperature measured and must have a Covid-19 test paper no more than 48 hours before entering The Ziggo Dome theater. Photo: Ferdy Damman / AFP. Fun mouse experiment Eight mass gatherings took place in March as a result of months-long negotiations between the Dutch government and Field Lab – a group of researchers. They held a series of events, from dance festivals, seat concerts to soccer matches, to study the behavior of attendees, while also monitoring any possible infections. happening. “So far, the ‘lab rats’ (referring to event participants) are very happy to be involved in the study,” said Andreas Voss, professor of infection control at Radboud University, laughing. Although no exact results have been released yet, Voss said by comparing data from concert attendees to national population data, the team believes attending an event can help. strict management with the early Covid-19 test is no more risky than daily life in the Netherlands. “To date, the risk has been mostly lower than in untested cases, out of the event. We are sure to have promising results, ”he said. The Dutch Minister of Health agrees. In early March, he called the Field Lab’s initial discovery “truly encouraging”. Cheerful, happy crowd attending the concert after such a long time. Photo: Ferdy Damman / AFP. Of course, there is still a risk not only for those who have attended the events, but also to whom they subsequently come into contact with. Therefore, the organizers asked the attendees to limit their contact with anyone in the vulnerable group, and to test Covid-19 5 days after the end of the event. Field Lab reported that to date, only 5 out of 6,000 people who have attended public events they organize are positive for Covid-19. However, they are not sure if the cases were transmitted from the Field Lab event. Emily Denissen “felt flustered” to attend public events. Photo: NVCC. Emily Denissen, who celebrated her 32nd birthday at one of Field Lab’s concerts, happily recounted: “What happened that night was amazing. Everyone to relax, enjoy their best ”. Part of the story “let loose” means forgetting about the epidemic room rules for the audience. Once they have consumed alcohol, many people take off their masks and forget about social distance. However, that was not too surprising, nor was it bad. “We are not influencing them in any way,” said Professor Voss. We also do not prompt to follow the rules, because we want to know what will happen in real-life events. “It is true that during music festivals masks are removed more quickly,” he said. Meanwhile, at auditorium events, business conferences and soccer matches, more than 94% of attendees maintained wearing masks. Despite being the subject of research, Niels Fekken (21 years old) can not hide the happiness of attending a concert after more than a year at home due to the pandemic. “I can barely describe it with words. Unbelievable. From last year until now, maybe this is the first time I feel so happy, “Fekken shared with CNN .