Category: Government Policy

News outlets say the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is planning to spend $5 billion to purchase Pfizer’s new experimental antiviral pill designed to treat COVID-19, enough to cover 10 million courses of treatment.

The revelation comes a day after the U.S. drugmaker announced it had signed a deal with Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool, a United Nations-backed public health group, to authorize generic drugmakers to produce its experimental COVID-19 pill for 95 countries.

The deal will make the pill available for low- and middle-income countries comprising about 53% of the world’s population.

Pfizer says its new pill, called Paxlovid, reduces the risks of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in people with mild to moderate coronavirus cases. Independent experts recommended ending Pfizer’s study because of its encouraging results.

Tuesday’s agreement between Pfizer and the Medicines Patent Pool coincided with Pfizer’s application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize use of the drug on an emergency basis.

“It’s quite significant that we will be able to provide access to a drug that appears to be effective and has just been developed, to more than 4 billion people,” said the Medicines Patent Pool’s Esteban Burrone.

Yuanqiong Hu, a senior legal policy adviser at Doctors Without Borders, said the organization is disappointed the agreement does not make the pill available to all countries.

“The world knows by now that access to COVID-19 medical tools needs to be guaranteed for everyone, everywhere, if we really want to control this pandemic,” she said.

Pfizer will not receive payments on sales in low-income countries, where fewer than 1% of its COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided. It also will waive royalties on sales in all countries covered by the deal while COVID-19 remains a public health emergency.

The Medicines Patent Pool announced in October that another U.S. drugmaker, Merck, agreed to allow other companies to make its COVID-19 pill available in 105 poorer countries.

Merck says its antiviral pill reduces the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 by half when administered soon after the appearance of the first symptoms.

The Biden administration has pledged to spend about $2.2 billion to purchase about 3.1 million doses of Merck’s pill once it has been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration. An FDA advisory panel will meet on November 30 to discuss Merck’s COVID-19 pill. British drug regulators granted authorization for Merck’s pill earlier this month.

Despite decisions by Pfizer and Merck to share their COVID-19 drug patents, Pfizer and other vaccine-makers have refused to release their vaccine formulas for broader production.

Source: Voice of America

China now depends almost entirely on its own online content providers, as the number of big foreign companies in the market, such as Yahoo and LinkedIn, keeps dwindling, giving the government a boost in controlling the internet, analysts say.

On Monday the Silicon Valley internet service provider Yahoo closed all of its services in China, following LinkedIn’s pullout announcement in October and earlier blockages of Google content.

In an e-mailed statement, Yahoo cited an “increasingly challenging business and legal environment in China.” Many Yahoo services were largely blocked in China, where the email and search engine provider has operated since 1999.

“My first reaction was, I didn’t know Yahoo was still alive in China,” said Danny Levinson, Beijing-based head of technology at the seed investment firm Matoka Capital.

Domestic services flourish

Chinese netizens seldom use Yahoo or other major Silicon Valley internet services, especially for media and communications, as domestic rivals have flourished over the past two decades. The government can handily monitor local providers for what it considers subversive content by calling in company managers for discipline.

Chinese use China-based WeChat for the bulk of their daily communication, watch TikTok videos instead of YouTube and check China’s Baidu.com rather than Wikipedia. Alibaba, headquartered in Hangzhou, takes care of e-commerce, although foreign rivals can still get into China given their trade’s lack of political sensitivity.

“They had all the ingredients in place,” said Kaiser Kuo, a U.S.-based podcaster who has worked in Chinese tech. “You had a really large, very fast-growing market. There was a need for people to come in with services that were catered to Chinese language users and Chinese tastes. On top of that, it was so cutthroat that foreign internet companies just couldn’t compete very well.”

The roughly 1 billion Chinese who use the internet have spawned an industry with an operating revenue of about $155 billion in the first 11 months of 2019, up 22.4% over the same months of 2018, according to Caixin Globa, a Chinese economic news-focused website.

Chinese mass media have said the country aims to become technologically self-sufficient by 2030 and get around U.S. government bans on doing business with some of its flagship companies.

Chinese netizens contacted this week say they’re unfazed by Yahoo’s withdrawal. Many Chinese have never visited Yahoo’s homepage, one veteran Beijing internet user said.

Laws discourage foreign providers

China has monitored the internet for two decades, by blocking websites and filtering social feeds, to intercept anti-government material. Its latest effort, the Data Security Law, restricts outflows of sensitive data from China and requires internet operators to give their internal data to law enforcement agencies.

Getting around that law can be costly and upset users outside China who oppose censorship, some analysts say.

“If there was a platform that was willing to go into China and completely cede control to the Chinese government and regulators to manage that, I think there would be an opportunity to grow, but so far most companies have chosen not to,” said Zennon Kapron, director of the finance industry research firm Kapronasia.

China previously blocked Facebook, Google and most other global social media sites and search engines as well as flagship Western news websites. Foreign media content providers “haven’t been really there for a long time in force,” said Ma Rui, founder of the San Francisco-based consultancy Tech Buzz China.

Users in China can still access foreign internet content by using a virtual private network, but authorities search out and block overseas-based VPNs that are not authorized for specific companies doing business in China. The “efficacy” of VPNs to stop filtering or blocking of content has declined over the years, Levinson said.

Emailing can still take care of Chinese people’s overseas business matters, Ma said, while foreign companies active in China normally use WeChat. China, however, does not allow end-to-end encrypted e-mail or chats.

“The email gets through, but based on the originating DNS [domain name system], it might get blocked, and it might get filtered. So it’s not a 100 percent panacea, but for normal business communication it’ll be fine,” Levinson said.

China’s constitution affords its citizens freedom of speech and press, but authorities target web content that the government believes will expose state secrets or might endanger the country, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a research group.

Source: Voice of America

Hundreds of people in Malawi held protests Tuesday in the commercial capital Blantyre against the high cost of living and unemployment saying both have become unbearable during the current administration.

The civil society group known as Human Rights Ambassadors led the protests that attracted a heavy police presence.

Among other issues, the protesters accused current President Lazarus Chakwera of failing to fulfill promises he made during the campaign period last year.

Steve Chimwaza led the protests.

“They promised a lot; they promised rule of law, they promised democracy, they promised 1 million jobs,” Chimwaza said. “They promised cheap driving licenses and passports, nothing is there.”

People in Malawi have been extremely frustrated because of the skyrocketing prices of basic goods and services.

Last month, the government increased the price of fuel by more than 20%, which then caused price hikes for other commodities.

The government blamed the price hikes on the impact of COVID-19 and also the global increase in fuel prices.

But Chimwaza says Malawians will not accept any excuses.

“I would like to take you back. It is Mr. President himself who told Malawians in vernacular language [during the campaign period] that if he fails in two years he will resign,” Chimwaza said. “He gave a time frame, but [to this] date, even 100,000 people have not even [been] employed.”

Mary Nkhata was among the women who joined the protests.

She said she already receives a low monthly salary and the recent price hikes in goods and services have led to her failing to pay school fees for her children. She said even buying soap now is becoming a problem.

However, President Chakwera said recently that it is not realistic to expect his administration to fulfill all campaign promises within one year.

Mustapha Hussein is a political science lecturer at the University of Malawi.

He says the protesters’ grievances are justified.

“There is a limit to which the situation can be blamed to COVID, because COVID is a global pandemic,” Hussein said. “And there are some countries that seem to be progressing amidst COVID. So, government must take the responsibility on unfulfilled promises.”

In their petition, the protesters are calling for the resignation of President Chakwera, his Vice President Saulos Chilima, National Assembly Speaker Gotani Hara, and leader of opposition, Kondwani Nankhumwa, if they fail to address their grievances.

Blantyre City Authorities received the petition from the protesters and promised to deliver it to the authorities for feedback.

Source: Voice of America

ARUSHA (Tanzania), The African Tourism Board (ATB) has honoured Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan with the Continental Tourism Award for her contribution to the country’s tourism sector.

ATB, mandated to promote and facilitate tourism growth and development across the continent, said it was impressed by President Hassan’s unwavering commitment to the promotion of tourism in Tanzania.

Speaking at the opening of the first East African Community (EAC) regional tourism expo (EARTE) in the northern city of Arusha, Cuthbert Ncube, the ATB Executive Chairman, said the Tanzanian leader ensured that the tourism industry rebounded amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tanzania becomes the first country within the EAC region to host the East African regional tourism expo. The expo aims at creating awareness on tourism investment opportunities and promoting EAC as a single tourism destination amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

MORE than 130 Ethiopian migrants have been repatriated from Malawi after failed attempts to reach South Africa this year.

They had been in detention for being in Malawi illegally as they waited sought to proceed to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional economic powerhouse.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) facilitated the return of 12 of these individuals this week.

Among the returnees were boys and men aged between 15 and 45.

Authorities in Malawi intercepted them in October 2020 and March 2021.

The first batch of migrants arrived back in Ethiopia on September 8, consisting of 122 migrants.

Malawi is on what is called the Southern Migration Route.

Mainly Ethiopian migrants use it to travel to Southern Africa to find improved economic opportunities.

This overland route takes them through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe or Mozambique and eventually South Africa, for many.

IOM reports that arrest by the authorities is among the risks faced by migrants on this route.

Those detained may stand months, and even years in detention, on allegations of breaching immigration regulations.

Mpilo Nkomo, Chief of Mission of IOM in Malawi, said movement restrictions and border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic were forcing migrants to utilize the services of smugglers.

The 134 returnees have been provided with post-arrival support in the form of psycho-social and orientation counselling as well onward transportation to their communities of origin.

Social workers from the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs has assisted the children track their families.

Reintegration support in the form of assistance in enrolling for vocational educational or the allocation of a grant to establish a small business will be offered.

Children qualify for assistance enabling them to return to school. Their families are to be assisted with livelihoods support.

Source: CAJ News Agency

On Wednesday, 7 October, 2021 the Malawi Electoral Commission presented reports for the Tripartite Elections held on 21 May 2019 and Fresh Presidential Elections held on 23 June, 2020 to the State President, Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera.

In his presentation remarks, MEC Chairman, Justice Dr Chifundo Kachale said although the Commission was an independent institution, it had a duty to be accountable on how it conducted or discharged its functions.

“The reports that the Commission is presenting to you, Your Excellency, give details and an account on the management of the entire process of two elections starting from voter registration up to results management and announcement,” he said.

Justice Kachale reaffirmed the commitment of the Commission towards holding elections that are free, fair and credible to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

“The Commission will remain impartial, nonpartisan and professional in the execution of its mandate,” he stated.

The MEC Chairman said there have been by-elections in 13 constituencies and five wards since May 2019 and none of these by-elections have been successfully challenged in court.

The MEC chairman also expressed gratefulness to the government for being responsive and providing financial support timely for running electoral activities.

“The country is facing challenges especially with the Covid-19 pandemic which has put so much stress to the economy. However, despite the pressure that has been exerted on the economy the government has always gleaned resources to ensure that electoral activities are implemented on time. We are very grateful for this,” he said.

In his remarks, State President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera assured the Commission of the government support in terms of finances and resources for it to continue discharging its mandate.

The State President also commended the Commission for its efforts in the past 18 months in correcting constitutional irregularities experienced in past elections.

“When an institution acts independently, follows the law to deliver its mandate, Malawians will start to develop trust in it and that does not only consolidate our democracy but also institutional trust.

The President urged the Commission to follow up on its officers that neglect or abuse their mandate in the course of duty.

Section 6(1) of the Electoral Commission Act says “Every individual member and employee of the Commission shall perform the functions and exercise the powers provided for in this Act independently of the direction or interference of:

• any public office;

• any organ of the Government;

• any political party;

• any candidate; or

• any person whosoever or organization whatsoever:

Provided that for the purpose only of accountability the Commission shall be answerable, and report directly, to the President on the overall fulfilment of the functions and powers of the Commission.

Source: Malawi Electoral Commission