Access to COVID-19 vaccines diagnostics and therapeutics has become moral and economic issue

The equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics has been described by the World Trade Organization Director-General Okonjo-Iweala as the “moral and economic issue of our time.” She said international cooperation on trade is important for all three elements of this package.

“Trade has become a “force for good” in the pandemic by enabling access to much-needed medical supplies,” Iweala argued. “Even as the value of global merchandise trade shrank by more than 7% last year, trade in medical supplies increased by 16% and by 50% for personal protective equipment.”

In regards to the WTO’s role in addressing the global vaccines scarcity, the DG Okonjo-Iweala said members could act on three fronts. “First, tackling supply chain issues holding back vaccine production, from export restrictions and excessive customs bureaucracy to problems accessing raw materials or hiring skilled workers. The WTO can help with the supply chain monitoring and transparency.”

The world body noted that the second action is helping manufacturers scale up keeping supply lines open and matching underused capacity with unmet needs and has been described as “necessary to save lives”. “In the longer run, especially if COVID is with us for years, we need a more geographically diversified global vaccine manufacturing base. Having less than 0.2% of capacity in Africa is not a recipe for supply resilience.

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The WTO chief said they would work with the World Health Organization (WHO), GAVI and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations on the COVAX vaccine manufacturing taskforce to advance equitable access. Okonjo-Iweala said WTO members must address issues related to technology transfer, knowhow and intellectual property, including the proposed temporary waiver from WTO intellectual property rules for vaccines and other pandemic-related products.

“We must act now to get all our ambassadors to the table to negotiate a text,” she said. “This is the only way we can come forward quickly, we can’t move forward with speeches and polemics.”