Trade : No deals this year amid efforts to undermine multilateral framework (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The World Trade Organization is unlikely to conclude any agreement this year, particularly the much-touted fisheries subsidies agreement.

COVID-19 : Intellectual property monopolies block vaccine access (PRIV)
(IPS, Sydney/Kuala Lumpur)
Sydney/Kuala Lumpur, 15 Dec (IPS/Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram*) -- Just before the World Health Assembly (WHA), an 18 May open letter by world leaders and experts urged governments to ensure that all COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests are patent-free, fairly distributed and available to all, free of charge.

Opinion : We all deserve protection from COVID-19 (PRIV)
(IPS, New Orleans)
When I contracted Ebola virus disease in August 2014 while working as a medical doctor in a well-known private hospital in Lagos, Nigeria, I was denied access to a potential cure.