WTO chief lays out global action to increase vaccine access, says an article on Reuters.
To increase vaccine production
Countries and drug makers to increase the production of coronavirus vaccines and share them more widely and fairly.
Role of WTO in covid-19 pandemic
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala(WTO director-general) said that concerns over cross-border supply chains had reinforced her view that the WTO must play a central role in the response to the pandemic.
“WTO members needed to reduce export restrictions and work to ease logistics and customs procedures”, she said. They should also advance negotiations on a proposal by India and South Africa and backed by over 80 WTO members, to temporarily waive intellectual property (IP) rights of pharmaceutical companies.
Vaccine producing companies
The WTO head urged vaccine makers to increase technology transfer to bring in new manufacturing capacity and to be transparent on contracts and pricing. Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca are among those producing the shots.
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Source: Reuters
