WTO: COVID vaccine to be produced in Africa, Latin America | Business and Financial Issues
Africa and Latin America have 0.17 and 2% respectively of global manufacturing power, said the head of the World Trade Organization at the end of an international conference in Rome, Italy.
The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Thursday that it was important to differentiate between vaccine production and production in Africa and Latin America in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic.
On the eve of Rome’s international medical conference, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told European Union lawmakers that the local export and export market would not work on the life or death of the COVID-19 vaccine, as many of the world’s richest countries the earth was shooting its people when a coronavirus plague hit their homes.
He estimated that the world could produce about five billion vaccines, but that while the virus is spreading “we need two or three times that. That is why the people are not here. ”
One of the biggest problems is the disruption of vaccine production, which is now 80% rooted in 10 countries in Europe, North America and South Asia, Okonjo-Iweala said, citing the problem as a “home-based problem”.
“It is not uncommon for Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion, to have 0.17% of the world’s electricity generation,” he said. “This needs to change.” He also said that Latin America has about 2% of the world’s power.
Friday’s summit, co-sponsored by European Union and Italian officials, is expected to attract a group of 20 developing and developing countries, who are leaders of international organizations and representatives of health organizations around the world.
The European Union is planning to cite Okonjo-Iweala’s proposals, in particular for boosting Africa’s productivity.
EU countries have criticized the US call for the removal of COVID-19 vaccine patents as a way to increase supplies, saying the move would not bring about short-term or medium-term changes and could be problematic.
Okonjo-Iweala has tried to stay out of the issue, but said WTO members could be flexible to ensure that more vaccines are developed in developing countries.
