Els Torreele
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elstorreele.bsky.social
Els Torreele
@elstorreele.bsky.social
570 followers 610 following 100 posts

Interested in Shifting Powers towards Health Equity, Economic Justice, post-Finance Capitalism, Climate Justice, Equitable Access to Medicines and Vaccines, and a better future for all of us. Founding Director of æqua.

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Environmental science 28%
Economics 20%
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elstorreele.bsky.social
Els Torreele @elstorreele.bsky.social · Jul 4
👇 Podcast: Reflecting on the deadly impact of US global health funding cuts incl stopping people's #AccessToMedicines, I talk about the root causes of #access dependency and why pharmaceutical self-reliance for public health purpose is a strategic priority.

open.spotify.com/episode/64o8...
Rethinking Global Health, Aid Funding and HIV Response
Make Medicines Affordable · Episode
open.spotify.com

Reposted by Els Torreele

wemos.org
Wemos @wemos.org · 19h
💊💰🔎 What is needed to improve pharma market transparency?

Some answers from our event with @hai-org.bsky.social at the European Parliament, co-hosted by MEPs Romana Jerković and @tillymetz.bsky.social:

🤝 More international collaboration
💪 Political will
📜 Binding obligations

Let's make it happen!

Reposted by Els Torreele

zackpolanski.bsky.social
Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 22h
Every personal attack.

Every attempt to distract or to divide.

It energises, strengthens and empowers our movement.

Lower bills. Tax billionaires. Join us.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The right can mock my teeth all it wants – it shows the Greens have struck a nerve | Zack Polanski
As a politician, I expect opposition and debate. But when it centres on personal insults, not policies, something else is going on, says the leader of the Green party, Zack Polanski
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Els Torreele

electricbluesfan.bsky.social
RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 3d
10/10 Usrof: "without reform this process will not save the world, and instead, will just help bury it.”

The UN responded that "national governments have sole authority to decide who is in their delegations."

By Nina Lakhani, The Guardian www.theguardian.com/environment/...
How thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists got access to UN climate talks – and then kept drilling
Exclusive: Research shows oil, gas and coal firms’ unprecedented access to Cop26-29, blocking urgent climate action
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jonathan A. Eisen, Axel Bruns, Kelly R. Zamudio , and 9 more

hormiga.bsky.social
Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 3d
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments
“People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”
www.vox.com

Reposted by Els Torreele

nschwalbe.bsky.social
Nina Schwalbe, MPH, PhD @nschwalbe.bsky.social · 3d
🔥In related news, leaked docs show US plans to tie HIV, TB & malaria support to pathogen sharing with no obligation of the US to share medical countermeasures in return.

🤚Stakeholders were firm: no bilateral deals.

healthpolicy-watch.news/exclusive-us...
EXCLUSIVE: US Ties Global Health Aid To Data Sharing On Pathogens – Undermining WHO Talks - Health Policy Watch
The United States (US) aims to compel countries that receive its aid to fight HIV, tuberculosis and malaria to share all information about “pathogens with
healthpolicy-watch.news

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Timothy Snyder, Axel Bruns , and 16 more

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d
Trump to the Novo Nordisk CEO: "Maybe you should give us a piece of the company like I've been asking for."

Reposted by Benjamin Braun, Robin Celikates, William A. Allen , and 2 more

isabellamweber.bsky.social
Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 4d
If guaranteeing essentials sounds radical in 2025, it speaks to how far we’ve drifted from democracy’s core promise. Markets will not save democracy.

My new piece for @theguardian.com:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Zohran Mamdani shows how Democrats can defeat authoritarians like Trump | Isabella Weber
Democrats have two choices: fight to make life affordable again for ordinary people or watch voters embrace authoritarians
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Els Torreele

bylinesnetwork.co.uk
Bylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 8d
Wealth taxes are back on the agenda – and Prof Richard Murphy shows why the data demands them.

200 years of evidence: capitalism funnels wealth upward unless govts intervene. So what's stopping them?

His must-read analysis👇

@eastangliabylines.co.uk @richardjmurphy.bsky.social with thanks
How capitalism drives inequality: and how to stop it
Wealth taxes are on Rachel Reeves’ agenda. Thomas Piketty has shown why it matters, and how we could stop the growth of inequality
eastangliabylines.co.uk

Reposted by Els Torreele

madhupai.bsky.social
Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 9d
“The more proximate you are to people’s lived realities, and the more embedded you are, the less distanced by class you are, the more you see. The higher you go…the higher your propensity to not be very useful.”

@seyeabimbola.bsky.social

www.ontheory.com/interviews/s...
Seye Abimbola | On Theory
Seye Abimbola wants us to stop mistaking prestige for insight – and inclusion for equity. At a bustling restaurant tucked into a leafy corner of the University of Sydney, Associate Professor Seye Abim...
www.ontheory.com

Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Tuomas Mattila, Robin Celikates , and 2 more

michaelemann.bsky.social
Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 10d
"You can’t reboot the planet if you crash it" | My commentary on Bill Gates' flawed new climate missive for @thebulletin.org: thebulletin.org/2025/10/you-...
You can’t reboot the planet if you crash it
What Gates is putting forward aren’t legitimate arguments that can be made in good faith. They are shopworn fossil fuel industry talking points.
thebulletin.org

Reposted by Els Torreele

greenparty.org.uk
The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 10d
Reminder: Here's what Nigel Farage tried to take away from you this week...
SOME OF THE THINGS THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS GIVES US Protection from torture Right to a fair trial Right to privacy & family life Freedom of expression Freedom of religion & belief Freedom of assembly Protection from discrimination Right to free & fair elections Accountability for the state Prohibition of slavery & forced labour Green Party Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of The Green Partv, both at PO Box 78066, London SE16 9GQ

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Rebecca Solnit, Jonathan A. Eisen , and 23 more

bookshop.org
Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 11d
Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House.

Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.

They are not the same.

Reposted by Els Torreele

jasonhickel.bsky.social
Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 12d
You honestly cannot make this up. The level of impunity, the total disregard for international norms, is just staggering.

Reposted by Els Torreele

mattherder.bsky.social
mattherder.bsky.social @mattherder.bsky.social · 12d
For those attending the #BuildingBridges conference in #Amsterdam, I’m re-upping this recent paper documenting the challenges with conditional approval mechanisms. It’s US-focused but insights relevant abroad.

academic.oup.com/healthaffair...

Cc @elstorreele.bsky.social @fatimahassan.bsky.social
Flexibility Over Rigor: Stakeholder Acceptance of the Limitations of Confirmatory Studies Following Accelerated Approval
Despite the importance of postmarketing requirements (PMRs) following accelerated approval and well-recognized shortcomings in their rigor and timeliness,
academic.oup.com

Reposted by Els Torreele

greenparty.org.uk
The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 12d
A new report shows the US’s super-rich are burning through carbon emissions at 4,000 times the speed of the world’s poorest 10%.

Some would have you believe climate action has to cost you money. They're lying.

Tax the polluters. Tax the super-rich.
Visual representation of the richest 0.1%'s carbon emissions being 4000x larger than the poorest 10%'s Source: Oxfam Green Party Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of The Green Party, both at PO Box 78066, London SE16 9GQ

Reposted by Joe R. Feagin, Gerald Friedman, Els Torreele , and 2 more

georgetakei.bsky.social
George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 14d
Fentanyl and coke are the new “weapons of mass destruction” lie. It’s Iraq all over again, folks. It’s always about controlling the oil.
A tweet from Morgan J. Freeman states: “FACT: Venezuela is NOT a major producer of cocaine. They do not have large cocaine factories. They do not produce fentanyl either. What Venezuela does have is the world’s largest oil reserves.”

Reposted by Els Torreele

rbreich.bsky.social
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 14d
Last week:

-Trump pardoned Binance's founder after a $2B deal with his crypto firm
-Hegseth awards a DoD contract to a Don Jr.-backed firm
-Trump orders his DOJ cronies pay him $230M in "compensation"

We must not become numb to this. https://popular.info/p/3-scandals-in-4-days-that-would-define
3 Scandals in 4 Days That Would Define Any Other Presidency
During the second Trump administration, corruption scandals that would typically define a presidency receive a day or tw
popular.info

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Rosemary A. Joyce, Juan Cole , and 5 more

abeba.bsky.social
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · 17d
dear US friends, when a sitting president (re)builds the seat of government, it almost always means the president has no intention of leaving at the end of term. your African friends with decades of experience

Reposted by Elizabeth Stokoe, Alan Richardson, Els Torreele , and 9 more

carlbergstrom.com
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 18d
Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.
Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory
An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Arvind Narayanan, Dietram A. Scheufele , and 17 more

carlbergstrom.com
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 18d
1. We ( @jbakcoleman.bsky.social, @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, and I) have a new preprint up on the arXiv.

There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
Three schematic diagrams. The first illustrates selective publishing of internal resection, the second selective causal focus, and the third selective access and funding for researchers.

Reposted by Els Torreele

yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social
Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social · 19d
A new UN report by @FranceskAlbs maps out the complicity of too many states in the Palestinians’ genocide. Their complicity shattered the notion of International Law. Our choice? Let Int Law fade into ignominy, or end third state complicity in genocide. www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...
www.ohchr.org

Reposted by Alison Phipps, Els Torreele

melissafleming.un.org
Melissa Fleming @melissafleming.un.org · 19d
The International Justice Court delivered an Advisory Opinion concluding that Israel is required to:
"ensure that the population of the Occupied Palestinian Territory has the essential supplies of daily life, including food, water, clothing, bedding, shelter, fuel, medical supplies and services.”
Israel is obliged to let aid flow into Occupied Palestinian Territory, says World Court
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) says that Israel must uphold its responsibilities as the “occupying power” by ensuring aid can flow freely and by respecting the rights of the UN and other hum...
news.un.org

Reposted by Els Torreele

luckytran.com
Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 20d
Research shows that it takes around 3.5% of the population actively participating in actions to bring about transformative change. Keep going! #upupup

Reposted by Els Torreele

devex.com
Devex @devex.com · 20d
As old growth models falter, the Gates Foundation and, more recently, Open Philanthropy are testing new ways to help low- and middle-income countries prosper. They’re able to take risks, test ideas, and inform policy reforms that multilateral banks and bilateral donors often can’t.
As aid shrinks, top philanthropies test new ways to spur economic growth
As aid shrinks, top philanthropies test new ways to spur economic growth
www.devex.com

Reposted by Els Torreele

cmorten.bsky.social
Chris Morten @cmorten.bsky.social · 20d
We urge further exploration & investment in truly public pharma—a "public option" in pharma. Empower NIH & other public agencies to take products all the way from bench to market without necessarily yielding IP rights and control of the research agenda to an industry partner.
14/

Reposted by Els Torreele

cmorten.bsky.social
Chris Morten @cmorten.bsky.social · 20d
Our history belies the claim that funneling more & more money into the existing paradigm produces more innovation. Big public investment induced J&J to partner in vaccine R&D against many pathogens, but only on J&J's rules—and only until J&J decided, unilaterally, to quit.
12/

Reposted by Els Torreele

cmorten.bsky.social
Chris Morten @cmorten.bsky.social · 20d
One thing that I find fascinating about this story:
In some sense, "the tail wagged the dog": J&J was able to dictate to NIH the scientific agenda, even though NIH was putting up the vast majority of the money. J&J wielded this power for many years, as one of the few ...
8/

Reposted by Els Torreele

cmorten.bsky.social
Chris Morten @cmorten.bsky.social · 20d
New paper!
Karim Sariahmed, Janice E. Graham, Matthew Herder & Christopher J. Morten, Public Sector Innovation and the Constraints of “Platform Thinking”: An Account of Johnson & Johnson’s Viral Vector Vaccines, 387 Social Science & Medicine 118687 (2025).
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
1/
Public sector innovation and the constraints of ‘platform thinking’: An account of Johnson & Johnson's adenoviral vector vaccines
Scholarship on political economy of vaccines in the COVID-19 era has focused on mRNA. Yet Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) vaccine based on recombinant adeno…
www.sciencedirect.com

elstorreele.bsky.social
Els Torreele @elstorreele.bsky.social · 21d
The UK should also promote open science and fair access, ensuring that its life sciences strategy supports both innovation and equity. In doing so, it can resist external pressures and build a pharmaceutical model that prioritises patients over profits.
The full comment:
www.bmj.com/content/391/...

elstorreele.bsky.social
Els Torreele @elstorreele.bsky.social · 21d
This begins with anchoring innovation in health needs; providing funding to fill research gaps, such as antimicrobial resistance; and ensuring public investment delivers public benefit. Strengthening domestic manufacturing and rebuilding the MHRA will reduce reliance on volatile global supply chains