'People can't learn about treatments they need': why open access to medical research matters | Education | The Guardian

"Around the same time as the Simms case, Steel made it his mission to gather and disseminate relevant research papers to other vCJD sufferers after his brother, Richard, died from the disease. “That was 18 years ago,” he says. “Yet there are still the same barriers stopping people from reading about research – from learning about the treatment they need.” 

In other words, hiding research papers behind a subscription paywall – as is the case for an estimated two-thirds of all research – could be killing people. There are countless examples of how failure to share science openly can have a devastating impact on public health.

It’s happening now: the outbreak of coronavirus in China prompted the director of the Wellcome Trust to call for medical findings to be shared freely and widely to prevent the spread of the disease and improve treatments for patients. ..."