We have lost a dear friend to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In April, we learned of the death of Dr. Patrick Chege, a close colleague and a kind, intelligent man who led the development of family medicine in Kenya.  Patrick was an integral member of the Besrour Centre’s core community, and his presence and wisdom will be greatly missed.

Through the past year, we have kept in contact with many of the Besrour Centre’s partners, most of whom are based in lower- and middle-income countries. We have heard stories of the challenges these family physicians have experienced as COVID-19 ravaged their communities.  We listened as they spoke of the spread of the disease and subsequent mortality through their patients, their own families, and their workplaces.  They also spoke of the helplessness they felt due lack of adequate oxygen and ventilatory support for their patients.

They always spoke about their vaccine supply.  While some of our partner countries have been able to secure and distribute an adequate supply of vaccines for their populations (or were on their way to doing so), many poorly resourced countries are struggling.  

The sad truth is that Dr. Chege’s death may have been preventable, had he had the same access to vaccines as we do in Canada.  As of June 17 2021 only 2.1 vaccine doses/100 people have been given in Kenya, compared to 80 doses/100 people in Canada.  ^[a]These vaccination rates exemplify a clearly documented correlation between country income and vaccination rates. These in kind bear bitter fruit to low income countries, who experience a higher burden of disease, and catastrophic economic and social impacts.  Global impacts are felt as well, with the development and eventual global spread of newer variants.

We relate with our fellow Canadians in wanting to ensure our patients and families are safe and protected from disease.  However, we also believe that the achievement of global vaccine equity is an ethically correct approach ^[b]that is also a sound from a public health perspective. While our federal government has taken steps to release some of our surplus vaccine supplies^[c], the fact remains that we have the largest vaccine surplus supply per person in the world^[d].  

What does your gut tell you to do?  On behalf of our LMIC partners, we invite you to engage with our governments to ensure that our global communities are provided with the same opportunities to be protected from COVID-19, and finished with this terrible pandemic.