Inês Sequeira
Djibouti is one of the smallest countries in Africa. Its strength lies in its location at the southern entrance to the Red Sea and the fact that it is adjacent to some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, acting as a bridge between Africa and the Middle East.
According to the World Bank’s global economic prospects report, Djibouti is expected to experience the strongest growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in Africa this year. The country’s growth remained positive at 0.5% in 2020, following the recovery of key domestic markets. What is more, the output growth in Djibouti is set to reach 5.5% in 2021 and average 6.1% a year in 2022 and 2023. This will put the country’s shipping, logistics and telecommunication services to the test.
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Two Indian states, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, have requested for permission to import Remdesivir, the anti-viral drug from Bangladesh. With COVID cases exploding all over the country, particularly in major urban centres in Maharashtra, Delhi and other states, the frantic effort to source Remdesivir from all available sources has acquired greater momentum.
Remdesivir is the only drug approved so far, for the treatment of COVID patients in life-threatening stages. Though not a silver bullet for a definitive cure, the anti-viral drug has been tested on patients with positive results.
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Indian Production of Remdesivir
Currently, Remdesivir is being produced by seven Indian companies under a voluntary licence agreement with Gilead Sciences, the California-based American biopharma company. Gilead, the patent holder of Remdesivir, has signed agreements with four more Indian Pharmaceutical companies for the manufacture and marketing of the drug.
No, but not for lack of trying. Consider EU vaccination efforts to date.
Europe has invested billions to support vaccine development. The EU largely permitted exports of locally-manufactured vaccines, while the U.S. and UK blocked them. The European Commission was a founding member of the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility, to which Team Europe is a top contributor. Closer to home, the EU gave €70 million ($85 million) to the six Western Balkan EU aspirants so that they could purchase vaccines.
But EU assistance has been slow to materialize. On March 28, three months after the EU rollout launched, COVAX deliveries finally came through and Kosovo became the last country in Europe to start vaccinating. EU-procured vaccines aren’t expected there until May.
Today, we are joining over
700 health professionals and academics in sending an open
letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison urging him to
take a leadership role in expanding the global production of
COVID-19 vaccines and other medical tools to fight the
pandemic.
The letter, signed by 207 doctors, 177
academics and 111 public health professionals, asks the
government to help remove legal and technical barriers to
increasing the production of COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostic
tests, treatments and other equipment.
We argue
there is more Australia and other wealthy nations
can and should be doing to end the pandemic.
The
need to act urgently
The COVID-19 pandemic is
Story highlights
Warren sent letters to Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson and urged them to share their plans of expanding access to coronavirus vaccines across the globe
As India gears up to launch its vaccine programme for 18-45-year-olds from May 01, a US Senator has urged the pharmaceutical companies to come forward and expand access to their vaccines in order to help India come out of the Covid crisis.
Elizabeth Warren, along with four other senators, took to Twitter to talk about the humanitarian crisis . India s COVID outbreak is a humanitarian crisis. I’m leading a letter to @moderna tx, @pfizer, and @jnjnews to find out what steps they’re taking to expand global access to their vaccines to save lives and prevent variants from spreading around the world, she tweeted.