玉井 隆

During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine distribution was one of the key technological factors in defending society against pathogens. However, the distribution of the vaccine in Africa is said to have been unequal, despite reflections on the past distribution of HIV/AIDS drugs and considerable efforts by the international community. This presentation first examines the political-economic mechanisms surrounding the inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa. Underlying this problem are the barriers to intellectual property rights for vaccines and drugs and the assumption that international policy is based on the premise that Africa is the beneficiary and not the developer of technological goods. Second, the presentation explores the potential challenges in African-led vaccine production. Technology transfer for vaccine R&D and the establishment of a vaccine manufacturing base are already underway in other African countries, including the mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa. My analysis is based on documents issued by international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and pharmaceutical companies, as well as data collected through interviews with NGOs in South Africa. Exploring the opportunities and challenges of African-led vaccine production is becoming increasingly important as the United States refuses to continue playing a role in global health.

Based on a field study conducted in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, this paper discusses how prisons have become apparatuses that force certain innocent people to ‘live in death’ (Mbembe 2001). Extrajudicial violence by police is a salient concern in Nigeria. In 2020, many young individuals launched a movement against it. They filmed violence in public spaces using their smartphones and disseminated the content worldwide through social media. This made the problematic police violence visible to the world. However, the existence of some people who face police violence and imprisonment despite their innocence is not well known. In many cases, individuals wrongfully detained by the police are released when they pay bail (bribe) or seek redressal from a lawyer. However, people who do not have sufficient funds or social networks are imprisoned and subjected to violence. Even if they are released, they face the possibility of losing their housing, jobs, and savings or being stigmatised as criminals by acquaintances and friends. This report discusses the suffering and violence experienced by people who are released after months or years of incarceration despite being innocent based on interviews with individuals who underwent this fate. The analysis discusses how prisons are not a means of punishment but rather apparatuses that exclude socially vulnerable people (particularly poor migrants living in cities) from their ordinary life.