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Mar
18
2022
By The African Mirror
WTO chief welcomes COVID shot patent plan, drugmakers balk

WTO chief welcomes COVID shot patent plan, drugmakers balk

COVID-19
LUDWIG BURGER and PHILIP BLENKINSOP THE World Trade Organization (WTO) praised a provisional deal to waive patent rights for COVID-19 vaccines after more than a year of deadlock, though drugmakers said the move risked undermining the industry's ability to respond to future health crises. The United States, the European Union, India and South Africa agreed on Tuesday on key elements for a waiver. It now needs the backing of the 164 members of the WTO, which takes decisions based on consensus, so rejection by just one country could still block an accord. "This is a major step forward," WTO Director-General…
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May
21
2021
By The African Mirror
Vaccine patent waiver will not be enough – WTO chief

Vaccine patent waiver will not be enough – WTO chief

COVID-19
PHILIP BLENKINSOP WAIVING intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines will not be enough to narrow the huge supply gap between rich and poor countries, the head of the World Trade Organization said yesterday. South Africa and India have urged fellow WTO members to waive IP rights on vaccines to boost production. Poorer countries that make up half the world's population have received just 17% of doses, a situation the World Health Organization head has labelled "vaccine apartheid". U.S. President Joe Biden said last week he supported the waiver idea, but the European Union and other developed country opponents said it…
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Mar
14
2021
By The African Mirror
U.S. vice president, WTO chief agree on need to reform global trade body

U.S. vice president, WTO chief agree on need to reform global trade body

BUSINESS
VICE President Kamala Harris and the head of the World Trade Organization have agreed about the need to reform the global trade body and pledged to work together to boost momentum for the global economy, the White House said. Harris, the first Black and Asian U.S. vice president and the first woman to hold the office, offered strong support to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first African and first woman to head the Geneva-based organization, in a phone call on Thursday, the White House said. Okonjo-Iweala is a former Nigerian finance minister. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala "They committed to work together to address the…
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Mar
02
2021
By The African Mirror
WTO chief hits the ground running

WTO chief hits the ground running

NEWS
EMMA FARGE and PHILIP BLENKINSOP THE new chief of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has urged its member states to work with pharmaceutical companies to license more COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing in developing countries in order to triple global production. "People are dying in poor countries," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on her first day in office. "The world has a normal capacity of production of 3.5 billion doses of vaccines and we now seek to manufacture 10 billion doses." Her call comes as a group of developing countries led by South Africa and India seek to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19…
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