COVID-19 : WTO & WHO hold meet with Big Pharma on access to vaccines (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The heads of the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization have convened a meeting of mainly of select countries, representatives of Big Pharma, and international organizations ostensibly to discuss how to expand and diversify manufacturing in order to promote equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, said people familiar with the development.

Trade : JSI on services domestic regulation leads to plurilateralization at WTO (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The United States on 20 July announced its intention to join the plurilateral Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on domestic regulation in services, with the aim of concluding the non-mandated JSI discussions at the World Trade Organization's 12th ministerial conference (MC12) to be held in Geneva in late November.

COVID-19 : European duplicity undermines anti-pandemic efforts (PRIV)
(IPS, Sydney/Kuala Lumpur)
Sydney/Kuala Lumpur, 20 Jul (IPS/Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram*) -- Despite facing the world's worst pandemic of the last century, rich countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO) have blocked efforts to enable more affordable access to the means to fight the pandemic.

Myanmar : Struggles in the grip of coup and COVID-19 (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome)
The third wave of Covid-19 is sweeping through Myanmar, from the high narrow buildings of the commercial capital Yangon to bamboo houses in rural areas.