Albert Bourla, CEO of the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) today. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty Images
Pfizer’s commitment will cover 23 medicines and vaccines that treat infectious diseases, certain cancers and rare and inflammatory diseases.
It is explained:
Making these drugs and vaccines more readily available has the potential to treat infectious and non-communicable diseases that cost the lives of nearly a million people each year in these countries and chronic diseases that significantly affect the quality of life for at least half a million more. .
Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, welcomed the Pfizer movement:
“Fast and affordable access to the most advanced medicines and vaccines is the cornerstone of global health equity.
Pfizer’s commitment to the Accord program sets a new standard in this regard. Combined with additional investments in strengthening Africa’s public health systems and pharmaceutical regulators, the Agreement is an important step towards sustainable health security for countries at all income levels.
Pfizer will sell all its patented drugs at a non-profit price in low-income countries
Pfizer has announced that it will provide its medicines and vaccines protected by non-profit patents to 45 of the world’s poorest countries, with the aim of reducing health inequalities around the world.
The commitment, called “An agreement for a healthier world”, has just been presented here in Davos.
This means that Pfizer will offer all medicines and vaccines that are available in the United States or the European Union non-profit to 1.2 billion in 45 lower-income countries.
Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal and Uganda are joining the agreement and will work with other low-income countries to “help identify and resolve barriers” beyond the supply of medicines.
Davos announcement: @Pfizer will donate ALL of its patented non-profit drugs to lower-income countries. Fantastic development in healthcare equity worldwide 👏
– Ella Pickover (@ellapickover) May 25, 2022
Updated at 08.47 BST
Advanced economies will basically return to where they would have been in the absence of the pandemic in 2024, says Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s first deputy director.
– CGTN Global Business (@CGTNGlobalBiz) May 25, 2022
However, emerging and developing economies will be about 5% below the pre-pandemic level. It is this gap, along with food and cost of living crises, that the risk of financial turmoil is on a much larger scale, says @GitaGopinath.
– CGTN Global Business (@CGTNGlobalBiz) May 25, 2022
Economics professor Mariana Mazzucato also tackles the point, telling delegates:
The labor share of the overall income is low. Profit sharing is high.
There is nothing natural in this, Mazzucato adds, it is a consequence of the elections that have been made.
IMF Gopinath: Wages can rise without creating a spiral
IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath also dismissed claims that wage increases should be suppressed to avoid a wage-price spiral.
Gopinath says we need to be clear that inflation is rising prices, not wages.
You could have a situation where wages go up and prices don’t, according to her, with the reduction in company profits.
Updated at 08.25 BST
Introduction: Fears of global growth following Soros’ warning about World War III
Good morning from Davos, where concerns about a possible global recession and escalating military conflict are weighing on world leaders and business leaders.
With the escalation of the global food crisis, the ongoing Ukrainian war, global economic uncertainty is on the rise, creating a remarkably sad feeling at the World Economic Forum.
Gita Gopinath, the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, told delegates this morning that the war in Ukraine has been “a major setback” for the global economy.
And the world continues to face headwinds, he says.
High inflation is pushing central banks to raise interest rates and China’s economy is slowing due to its Covid-19 blockades and restrictions.
Gopinath says:
We have a confluence of shocks in the world and we are not out of the woods yet.
Gopinath also notes that there are very divergent recoveries due to the pandemic, with emerging and developing economies lagging behind.
There is a food crisis and a cost of living crisis, he warns.
Last night, veteran philanthropist George Soros warned that the Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens to be the “beginning of World War III” that could mean the end of civilization.
In a fierce attack on Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping of China at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Soros warned that autocratic regimes were on the rise and that the global economy was heading for a depression.
With the mood in Davos already depressed due to the war in Ukraine, Soros raised the gloomy rhetoric to new heights.
“The invasion may have been the beginning of World War III, and our civilization may not have survived.
“The invasion of Ukraine did not come from the blue. The world is increasingly engaged in a struggle between two diametrically opposed systems of government: the open society and the closed society.
Here is the whole story:
Today we will also hear from the head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, Bill Gates, the US Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the President of Israel Isaac Herzog and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba.
The agenda
- 8.45 am Davos (7.45 am BST): Panel on global growth prospects, with Siemens President Jim Hagemann Snabe, UCL Professor Mariana Mazzucato, IMF Deputy Director Gita Gopinath
- 09:00 Davos (8:00 BST): Press conference: Pfizer and Partners announce agreement for a healthier world
- 10 am Davos (9 am BST): European unity in a messy world? Slokavia President Eduard Heger, IMF Chief Christine Lagarde, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Micheál Martin, Irish Taoiseach.
- 10.15am Davos (9.15am BST): conversation with Gina Raimondo, United States Secretary of Commerce
- 11:00 Davos (10:00 BST): Press Conference: Expansion of First Movers Coalition to Decarbonise the Global Economy, with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Mikael Damberg, Swedish Finance Minister Bill Gates, Ruth Porat , Google CFO, Microsoft President Brad Smith
- 11.30 am Davos (10.30 am BST): Conversation with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece
- 2.30pm Davos (1.30pm BST): panel on the return of war to Europe, including Sir Lawrence Freedman, Professor Emeritus of War Studies at King’s College London
- 15:00 Davos (14:00 BST): Special speech by Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel
- 15:00 Davos (14:00 BST): a conversation with Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
- 5.30 pm Davos (4.30 pm BST): Press conference: The New Economics of Water – Launch of the Global Commission
- 6.40 pm Davos (5.40 pm BST): Press conference: Trade and food policy perspectives, with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Svein Tore Holsether, Yara Director-General
- 7.20 pm Davos (6.20 pm BST): press conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba
Updated at 08.44 BST