header background

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)

Featured

Trade
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

Britain's Moral Bankruptcy Over COVID-19 Vaccines
by William A. Haseltine - October 27, 2020

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

Trade
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

Back to Basics After COVID-19

by Sonya Stokes

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

Trade
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

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

Latest

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