SPEAKING to G20 leaders and the heads of international organisations on Friday, World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala addressed the challenges facing the global COVID-19 vaccination process.

Ms Okonjo-Iweala who has described equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics as "the moral and economic issue of our time," told the Global Health Summit, co-hosted by the European Commission and the Italian G20 Presidency, that WTO members could contribute to greater vaccine equity.

She said members could act on three front – lowering supply chain barriers, fully using existing production capacity, and addressing issues related to intellectual property, access and innovation.

Tackling supply chain monitoring and transparency issues holding back vaccine production, from export restrictions and excessive customs bureaucracy to problems accessing raw materials or hiring skilled workers, was the first step.

The second action is helping manufacturers scale up by "keeping supply lines open and matching underused capacity with unmet needs" and pushing for decentralising the production process.

"In the longer run, especially if COVID is with us for years, we need a more geographically diversified global vaccine manufacturing base… It's not normal that Africa, with 1.3 billion people has 0.17 per cent of the manufacturing capacity of the world," said the WTO chief.

Finally, she said WTO members must address issues related to technology transfer, knowhow and Intellectual Property, including the proposed temporary IP waiver, pushed by India and South Africa.

"We must act now to get all our ambassadors to the table to negotiate a text," she urged. "This is the only way we can move forward quickly, we can't move forward with speeches and polemics."

Stating that the pandemic had made policymakers rethink preparedness, response, and resilience as "one interconnected package," Ms Okonjo-Iweala hoped for progress on the issues by July.