The consensus is that there is no consensus.
This really is the story from the WTO on whether temporary clarifications in intellectual property rules be extended for the production and supply of COVID-19 tests and treatments.
The global health ecosystem gets curiouser and curiouser.
In today’s edition, we bring you an update from the WTO TRIPS extension discussions - where countries agreed that there has been no consensus on the decision.
On the same day, February 14th, that WTO members met for a General Council meeting in Geneva, effectively noting the end of the TRIPS Waiver discussions, an ill-timed tweet from the WTO sparked off a kerfuffle on social media. The international trade body with 164 members, got some hate on Valentine’s Day for putting out “pro-patent love tweets”. This is a serious misstep in institutional communication in such a polarized atmosphere.