The clock is ticking for a World Trade Organization agreement on intellectual property waivers for COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and tests.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala wants members to lock themselves into weekend negotiations if that’s what it takes to get an intellectual property agreement in time for a self-imposed deadline that is fast approaching.
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Andrew Green reports for Devex that WTO members have until the end of the organization’s four-day ministerial conference, which begins Sunday, to reach consensus on an agreement to waive at least some intellectual property protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The question is: Does a deal exist that can unite the members of this consensus-based institution? The current status of the negotiations raises some doubts.
The original TRIPS waiver proposal introduced by the South African and Indian delegations way back in October 2020 would have temporarily waived a range of intellectual property protections, including patents, trade secrets, and copyrights, on COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests. More than 100 countries supported it, but not the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, and other nations allied to the pharmaceutical industry.
Then, members of the so-called Quad — the United States, the European Union, India, and South Africa — got together at Okonjo-Iweala’s urging and put together a draft proposal that would limit waivers to vaccines and only apply to patents.
Andrew writes: “The quad’s ‘outcome document’ infuriated supporters of the original TRIPS waiver, even as its original authors have kept it at arm's length, leaving WTO members in the curious position of now negotiating over a text that no one outside the EU really claims.”
Okonjo-Iweala is using every technique in the motivation playbook — even asking WTO members if they want to be seen as part of a failed organization, Andrew reports. We could have an answer to that question soon.
Read: Can the WTO meeting finally deliver a TRIPS deal?
+ For more on the TRIPS waiver negotiations, sign up for Devex CheckUp, the must-read weekly newsletter for exclusive global health news and insider insights.
Drawing board
One of the most prominent initiatives to come out of Davos in recent years, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations — CEPI — is undertaking governance reforms. The changes include the addition of new board members, expansion of CEPI's Equitable Access Committee to include representatives from civil society and low- and middle-income countries, and potentially additional steps to clarify the organization’s Equitable Access Policy, Jenny Lei Ravelo reports.
Read: CEPI external review recommends civil society and LMIC representatives [PRO]
+ Devex Pro subscribers can learn about CEPI’s $300 million fund from the Gates Foundation and Wellcome for the implementation of its five-year plan for pandemic preparedness. Not yet a Pro subscriber? Sign up now and start your 15-day free trial.
‘Deeply concerned’
Humanitarian assessments paint an increasingly grim picture of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. According to a United Nations appeal for $47 million launched Thursday, food production in the last harvest season was 40%-50% lower than last year, “and the current agricultural season is at risk, with seeds, fertilizers, fuel and credit shortages.”
New Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament the country needs at least $5 billion over the next six months to provide essential services.
Shabtai Gold tells me the International Monetary Fund is setting up an in-person mission to Sri Lanka in the coming weeks to follow up on the last talks. He notes that experts have called the crisis human-made, blaming the current political leadership.
"It's too early for us to discuss magnitude of potential financing or potential date" for a deal, Gerry Rice, an IMF spokesman, told reporters Thursday.
To get board approval for a deal, the government would need to ensure that debt sustainability will be restored. Overall, the fund is "deeply concerned" by the situation and is particularly worried about the poor, given the food and energy price spikes.
ICYMI: How big is Sri Lanka's mess — and is there a way out?
Early findings
SAGO, a group of scientists advising the World Health Organization on further studies on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19, has released its first preliminary report. While the group has not identified “any conclusive findings” about how the virus originated and spilled over into humans, it called for further study of early cases identified in China and in Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Market.
It also called for additional investigations on laboratories in Wuhan and other locations worldwide where pre-2020 COVID-19 cases have been retroactively detected. Three of the scientists that make up SAGO objected to this, according to the report: Dr. Vladimir Dedkov of Russia’s Pasteur Institute, Dr. Carlos Morel of Brazil’s Ministry of Health, and Dr. Yungui Yang of the Beijing Institute of Genomics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The lab leak theory has been a particularly controversial issue. The WHO-led international mission in China said in its report that COVID-19 leaking from a lab is “extremely unlikely,” but WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was premature to dismiss the idea, and has asked China to cooperate fully in further investigations.
Recap: Wuhan COVID-19 virus lab leak 'extremely unlikely,' says WHO mission head
Fine print
“If you are applying for a role within [gender-based violence] and you don't mention the word GBV anywhere in your CV, it's unlikely that you will be selected even though you have the right skill set.”
— Peder Apall-Olsen, former head of the recruitment and development unit at the Norwegian Refugee CouncilIn development hiring, keywords are one of the first things recruiters will use to screen applicants for open positions. But that’s not the only reason they matter, Justin Sablich reports.
Read: 3 ways keywords play a critical role in development CVs
+ For more career advice, sign up for Devex Career Hub — our free, Friday newsletter that gives you global development’s top jobs and expert career advice.
In other news
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has decried the killing of a staff member in Myanmar and has called for an impartial investigation into the aid worker’s death. [Al Jazeera]
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced this week a new $1 billion facility to fund investments aimed at ensuring food security, especially among countries most affected by the war in Ukraine. [Zawya]
New Zealand could soon be the first country to tax farmers for their livestock’s methane emissions, as part of its bid to tackle climate change. [BBC]
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About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.