NEWS
WHO, WIPO, WTO Collaborate to Stem COVID-19 Spread
By Laide Akinboade, Abuja
The Directors General of the Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Daren Tang, and the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said they have concluded arrangements in collaborating on a series of workshops to improve the flow of information on coronavirus, covid-19, pandemic and to implement a joint platform for tripartite technical assistance to member governments in the fight against COVID-19.
In a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja after their meeting on June 15, 2021.
They said to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to intensify collaboration in favour of global access to medicinal innovations.
“We, the Directors General of the World Health Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the World Trade Organization, met on June 15, 2021 in a spirit of cooperation and solidarity to map out future collaboration to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and other pressing global challenges at the intersection of public health, intellectual property, and trade.
“We vowed to bring the full scope of our respective institutions’ knowledge and resources to bear on behalf of communities around the world as they grapple with a health crisis of historic severity and size.
“We underscored our commitment to universal, equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and other health technologies – a commitment anchored in the understanding that this is an urgent moral imperative in need of immediate practical action.
“In this spirit, we agreed to build further on our long-standing commitment to WHO-WIPO-WTO Trilateral Cooperation that aims to support and assist all countries as they seek to assess and implement sustainable and integrated solutions to public health challenges. Within this existing cooperative framework, we agreed to enhance and focus our support in the context of the pandemic through two specific initiatives”.
“First, our three agencies will collaborate on the organization of practical, capacity-building workshops to enhance the flow of updated information on current developments in the pandemic and responses to achieve equitable access to COVID-19 health technologies. The aim of these workshops is to strengthen the capacity of policymakers and experts in member governments to address the pandemic accordingly.
“The first workshop in the series will be a workshop on technology transfer and licensing, scheduled for September. The workshop will help our members update their knowledge and understanding of how intellectual property, know-how and technology transfer work in actuality. This would be in the context of medical technologies and related products and services.
“This first workshop will be followed by others on related practical themes. Secondly, we will implement a joint platform for tripartite technical assistance to countries relating to their needs for COVID-19 medical technologies, providing a one-stop-shop that will make available the full range of expertise on access, IP and trade matters provided by our organizations, and other partners, in a coordinated and systematic manner.
“The platform for technical assistance will, in particular; support countries to assess and prioritize unmet needs for COVID-19 vaccines, medicines and related technologies; and provide timely and tailored technical assistance in making full use of all available options to access vaccines, medicines and technologies, including through coordination between members facing similar challenges to facilitate collective responses.
“These initiatives will also be underpinned by our joint efforts to collect and make accessible robust and inclusive data needed to guide an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This will include a periodical update of the overview of COVID 19-related measures that are mapped in a key resource for trilateral cooperation, the WHO-WIPO-WTO publication ‘Promoting Access to Medical Technologies and Innovation: Intersections between public health, intellectual property and trade’, published in 2020”, they stated.
President Bola Tinubu has returned to Abuja, the nation’s capital, after spending two weeks abroad.
The President arrived back at the Presidential Villa in the early hours of Wednesday.
The Nigerian leader had travelled to the Netherlands on April 23 for a summit on economic growth.
After the three-day event, he proceeded to Saudi Arabia, where he joined other leaders from around the globe for the World Economic Summit (WEF).
The Nigerian leader did not immediately return to Nigeria after the event, spending more days abroad.
No official reason was given for the extended stay that has aroused speculations from some Nigerians.
This newspaper earlier reported on Tuesday that President Tinubu was due in Nigeria this Wednesday, according to his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
From Ene Asuquo, Calabar
High Court sitting yesterday in Effraya, Etung local government area of Cross River state has granted motion exparte, disbanding the state Cocoa Allocation Surveillance team from operating at the government Cocoa estate.The court placed the injunction order restraining the team from harassing allottees of government cocoa farms in Etung local government of the state.
The order came five days after Otu’s administration issued a statement suspending activities of the surveillance team barring them from operating at government Cocoa estate in the state. The court presided over by Justice Amajama Eneji, yesterday after the proceedings, adjourned the matter for argument till May 23,2024 after a counter affidavit to the motion on notice and statement of defense was filed by counsel to Cross River State government Barr.Woda Ogar.In a brief interview with journalists at the court premises at Effraya, counsel to Cross River State government, Wada Ogar, said, “ I just came today to find out that there were 27 others recently filed.”The application ex parte was taken and has been variously adjourned to May 23rd for hearing of the motion on notice. But what I came here for was suit no. HA/16, 17 and 18, 2024 which have been served on me and I have filed my responses.”Well, it is the allegation of the claimants that some hooligans are taking over the plots over which we are in court, harassing the people and all that.”That is why in the first place, they brought an application ex parte to restrain those people and then they alleged that, surveillance committee set up by the government was being used to perpetrate illegalities, because of that, the court made another ex parte which had gone viral” Woda said.Meanwhile counsel for claimant, Mba Ukweni ( SAN),averred that he and his clients (claimants ) came to court to take a motion for interlocutory injunction to restrain government and its agents, her appointees from interfering with allottees of government cocoa farms.
From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo of Kogi State in his 100 days in office has been said to have made history with the payment of 100 percent monthly pension to Local Government Pensioners and 85 percent monthly salary to local government workers in the state.This positive development which started in the month of April, 2024, is coming after several years of percentage payment being experienced by local government pensioners and workers in the state.
It was a jubilation galore for the beneficiaries as they said that it will go a long way in cushioning the effect of the current economic hardship as well as giving them a sense of belonging with their counterparts in the Kogi State Civil Service. Governor Ododo also made his mark within the 100 days in office by entrenchment of good governance through the appointments of capable Commissioners and Special Advisers to kick start effective administration.In the education sector, Governor Ododo made his feat in the payment of external examination fees such as WAEC and JAMB, creation of online registration portal for the registration of indigenous students of Kogi in tertiary institutions across the country for payment of their bursary allowances, payment of outstanding fees to all Students’ Associations and Youth Organisations in the state.Ododo equally ensured the completion of internal roads at Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara as well as inspection of legacy projects in the institution and Kogi State University, Kabba.Furthermore, the Governor embarked on training of teachers in the Kogi State Public Schools/ Deployment of a new set of teachers recruited by the Kogi government.Inorder to boost food security within the period under review, Governor Ododo’s administration, cleared over 8,000 hectares of farmland for this year’s farming season, conducted a census of genuine farmers in the state to determine farmers to benefit from government subsidies and interventions and refurbishment of over 200 Tractors which were distributed to farmers across the state to carry out their farming activities.On information dissemination, the Governor installed a Transmitter at Radio Kogi headquarters in Lokoja to ensure effective publicity of government policies and programmes, provision of operational vehicles to the Radio Station and Solar Power to ensure uninterrupted transmission.In an effort to avert possible flooding in the state during this year’s raining season, Governor Ododo within his 100 days in office, awarded contract of N29.9Billion Erosion Control Projects at Ankpa, Okene and Ijumu local government areas
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