Trade : TRIPS amendment on access to cheaper drugs comes into force (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
A protocol amending the WTO TRIPS Agreement that would enable developing countries with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector to import cheaper generic medicines produced under compulsory licencing finally came into force on Monday, 23 January.

Trade : US President to pursue bilateral trade deals (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The new US administration of President Donald Trump signalled on Monday (23 January) that it would aggressively pursue bilateral trade agreements instead of multilateral trade deals based on the lowest common denominator framework, White House Spokesperson Sean Spicer said.

Latin America & Caribbean : A crisis of overweight and obesity (PRIV)
(IPS, Santiago)
Obesity and overweight have spread like a wildfire throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, threatening the health, well-being and food and nutritional security of millions of people.

Development : Guess how much water your daily food consumes (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome/Berlin)
The facts are clear. So are the consequences. And the facts are that it takes between one and three tonnes of water to grow one kilogramme of cereal; that a kilogramme of beef takes up to 15 tonnes of water to produce; and that it is estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 litres of water are needed to produce a person's daily food.

Development : "It will take 170 years for women to be paid as men are" (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome)
While just eight individuals, all of them men, own the same wealth as 3.6 billion people - half of world's total population - it will take 170 years for women to be paid the same as men, warns a new major report on inequality.

Kenya : Why polio campaigns must reach every last child (PRIV)
(IPS, Nairobi)
For a long time, no person in Kenya suffered the devastating disability that is caused by polio. In fact, the only reminder in the early 2000s was the victims in the streets of Nairobi, many of whom had been paralysed as children and adults. Their lives were ravaged by this terrible, vaccine-preventable disease.