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Trade

The links between trade and health extend back to the earliest human settlements, but globalization has brought these spheres together as never before. This section examines the issues that have led to an even closer intersection between trade and health, asks how they impact the poor, and explores the tensions that arise between the goals of protecting and promoting health and generating wealth through trade.

Trade

29.3%

Goods and services exports as share of global GDP

Goods and services exports as share of global GDP Goods and services exports as share of global GDP

48%

Developing country share of global trade, 2014

Developing country share of global trade, 2014 Developing country share of global trade, 2014

50

Preferential trade agreements, in 1990

Preferential trade agreements, in 1990 Preferential trade agreements, in 1990

301

Preferential trade agreements in 2019

Preferential trade agreements in 2019 Preferential trade agreements in 2019

1995

Founding of World Trade Organization (WTO)

Founding of World Trade Organization (WTO) Founding of World Trade Organization (WTO)

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Trade
a mural of biochemist and researcher Katalin Kariko, senior vice president at BioNTech, best known for her contributions to mRNA technology and the COVID-19 vaccines. Photo taken in Budapest, Hungary, on August 28, 2021.

mRNA Therapeutics: The Technology That Saved the World

by Vibhor Mishra, Tulika Rastogi - December 23, 2021

COVID-19 vaccines catapulted mRNA technology into the spotlight, and now it's used to cure previously untreated diseases

Trade
South Sudanese health workers prepare to administer vaccines during a campaign in Juba, South Sudan, on February 4, 2020.

We Have the Demand, Now We Need the Supply

by Paulino Buda Geri

South Sudan jumped the vaccine hesitancy hurdle, but people are queuing up for shots that aren't there

Trade
Empty vials of AstraZeneca/Oxford coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, donated to Kenya by the UK government, are seen after being used, in Nairobi, Kenya, on August 8, 2021.

The Global COVID-19 Contract Conundrum

by Bridie Telford, Julia Barnes-Weise, Laura Hoemeke

The critical role of contracts in determining access to COVID-19 vaccines

Family members mourn the death of their relative who who died of the coronavirus disease at a crematorium ground in Giddenahalli village near Bengaluru, India on May 13, 2021.
Trade

Why U.S. Vaccine Nationalism Hurts India

by Judy Stone, Joshua P. Cohen, Madhukar Pai

Stockpiling COVID-19 jabs cannot be more important than saving human lives

map of all vaccine donations
Trade

The Politics of Vaccine Donation and Diplomacy

by Samantha Kiernan, Serena Tohme, Kailey Shanks, Basia Rosenbaum

Is a friend in need a friend indeed?

A girl carries a bucket with laundry on her head while heading home as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues, in Yoff neighbourhood, Dakar, Senegal on January 26, 2021.
Trade

To Decolonize Global Health, We Must Examine the Global Political Economy

by Pooja Yerramilli

We cannot talk about decolonizing without discussing colonialism's most fundamental legacy in global health

A delegate arrives before a meeting at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland on October 28, 2020.
Trade

Trade in the Time of Pandemics

by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

With borders closed and global travel constrained, trade will help us find a way out of the pandemic

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reflected in a woman's eye as she watches his address to the nation following the outbreak of coronavirus in Manchester, England, on September 22, 2020. The photo shows a macro lens image of an eye with the image of the PM reflected in it. REUTERS/Phil Noble
Trade

Britain's Moral Bankruptcy Over COVID-19 Vaccines

by William A. Haseltine

Why a study set to deliberately infect people with coronavirus is unethical, unnecessary, and likely to be uninformative

Addressing pandemic preparedness after COVID-19 will require going deeper than the surface. Here a worker sanitizes surfaces inside the Inox Leisure movie theatre in Mumbai, India, October 13, 2020. The photo is striking, showing a worker spraying disinfectant wearing a blue suit descending down a theater staircase where all the seats and carpet are bright red. REUTERS/Niharika Kulkarni
Trade

Back to Basics After COVID-19

by Sonya Stokes

Investing in Primary Care Now Will Prepare the U.S. for the Next Pandemic

Volunteers wait for their names to be called before testing and taking part in a COVID-19 clinical trial at the Wits RHI Shandukani Research Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 27, 2020. Picture shows a waiting room full of people. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
Trade

Vaccine Nationalism and Africa

by Evaborhene Aghogho Nelson 

African Union calls for a “People's Vaccine” as African Academy of Sciences begins mapping local clinical trials sites

A woman holds a small bottle labeled with a "Vaccine COVID-19" sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration taken on April 10, 2020, in Bosnia. The photo shows a woman holding a small vial to her face. She is wearing a mask and gloves and the vial reads, COVID-19. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
Trade

A New Way to Drive COVID-19 Vaccine Development

by Adrian Towse, Kalipso Chalkidou, Rachel Silverman

How a "benefit-based advance market commitment" could build on existing Gavi COVAX and EU Joint Procurement initiatives

The "Fearless Girl" statue is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange following first trading session since its March coronavirus lockdown in the Manhattan borough of New York City on May 26, 2020. The photo shows the statue with a huge American flag in the background. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Trade

Patent Pools and the Pandemic—A Renewed Debate

by Bashar Malkawi

In light of COVID-19 we need to revisit patent pools and their potential for pro-competitive and anticompetitive effects

Is this the stuff vaccines are made of? This publicity photo shows two samples of a vaccine against COVID-19, capped in Russian colors, at the Gamaleya Research Institute in Moscow on August 6, 2020. Picture shows two vials, one with a red cap and one with a blue. REUTERS/Russian Direct Investment Fund
Trade

Vaccine Dreams and Russian Reality

by Judy Twigg

Putin's gamble on an untested cure has high stakes—it could pay off if it actually works but will cost lives if it fails

A drug addict uses a glass water pipe to smoke methamphetamine at an undisclosed drug den in Manila, Philippines, on June 20, 2016. The photo is a closeup of a man smoking from a glass pipe. REUTERS/Staff/File Photo
Trade

Coronavirus is a Public Health Nightmare—Now Comes One More

by A. Taylor Thomas, Emily Briskin

As the pandemic chokes off opioid supplies from China and unemployment skyrockets, U.S. meth addiction is set to explode

Customers wearing facemasks are reflected in a mirror as they stand on an escalator inside the department store Le Printemps Haussmann in Paris, France, amid the coronavirus pandemic on May 28, 2020. The photo shows people on an escalator with the photo showing mirror images on the left and right of the frame. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Trade

Commercial Determinants of Health in COVID-19

by Adnan Hyder, Meghan Werbick, Paul Ndebele, Nino Paichadze

Often part of the problem in pandemics, private sector businesses can be part of the solution as well and protect people