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Reliable access to quality essential medicines is now
considered a fundamental part of the
human right to health. Yet, up to half
the population in many low-income countries do not have this access either
because of inadequate availability of medicines in
public health
facilities or because of unaffordable prices. Poor people are most
affected. Millions of people continue to suffer and die with diseases
which are preventable and/or treatable.
WHO’s goal in the area of medicines is to help save lives and improve health
by ensuring the quality,
efficacy, safety and
rational use of medicines,
including traditional medicines, and by promoting equitable and sustainable
access to essential medicines particularly for the poor and disadvantaged.
The concept of essential medicines is based upon equity, economy and
effectiveness – 300 to 400 medicines can cover more than 90% of health
problems in a country.
The first step in the prequalification process is the joint issuing, by the
WHO Prequalification Programme and other UN agencies, of an Invitation for
Expression of Interest (EOI). EOIs focus on products that have been
identified as vital to effective treatment and to expanding treatment
programmes. Every product contained in an EOI is already included in the WHO
Model List of Essential Medicines and/or in WHO treatment guidelines. Each
EOI invites manufacturers to submit a request for an evaluation of their
product(s). Manufacturers should then submit a covering letter, product
dossier, product sample and site master file to the WHO Prequalification
Programme.
More
Meeting on the Good Governance for Medicines (GGM) programme, Cairo,
Egypt 25–27 July 2011
National assessors, government counterparts and representatives from civil
society organizations from five countries (Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and
Sudan) gathered in Cairo from 25 to 27 July to participate in an
intercountry feedback meeting on phase I of the Good Governance for
Medicines (GGM) programme. The group reconvened after the first meeting,
which took place in December 2010, to share the results of their country
transparency assessment studies, this in addition to providing a platform
for participants to gain motivation and develop skills to work in this area.
As the group is from Arabic-speaking countries, it was of special importance
to gain feedback from the participants on the Arabic version of the WHO
instrument to assess transparency in the pharmaceutical sector. Countries
finally developed a GGM plan of action for the next 12 months.
More
WHO Good Governance for Medicines meeting, Geneva, Switzerland 5–8 April
2011
A technical group meeting on the WHO Good
Governance for Medicines (GGM) programme was held in
Geneva, Switzerland from 5 to 8 April 2011. The objective of the meeting was
to solicit the input of a group of technical experts in ongoing efforts to
adapt WHO technical assistance in this area to country needs. Participants
included officials from national medicines authorities who have been
involved with the GGM programme and have an in‐depth knowledge of GGM
concepts, documents and methodology.
More
Sixth consultative meeting on UN
prequalification of medicines, diagnostics and vaccines, Geneva, 4–5 April
The
WHO prequalification of medicines programme, in conjunction with the
prequalification of vaccines and diagnostics programmes, held the sixth
consultative stakeholders meeting at the Centre International de Conférences,
Geneva, Switzerland, on 4 April 2011. This was followed by a meeting with
manufacturers on 5 April 2011, organized by the WHO prequalification of
medicines and vaccines programmes.
More
WHO Prequalification Programme presented in
DUPHAT
Dubai International Pharmaceuticals and Technologies Conference and
Exhibition, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 22–24 March 2011
Dubai International Pharmaceuticals and
Technologies Conference and Exhibition (DUPHAT) is a major pharmaceutical
and technology event in the Middle East. It
serves as a convergence point for pharmacists, physicians, scientists and
marketing professionals with the aim of providing a wide-ranging exhibition
where many important topics are discussed and presented. Topics for this
year include a robot for chemotherapy preparation through pharmacy
automation and the pharmacist’s role in public health.
More
Good Governance for Medicines Programme
Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt, 2–3 March 2011
This activity was a follow up to the
training on WHO methodology for assessing transparency and vulnerability to
corruption in the pharmaceutical sector which took place in WHO Regional
Office from 13 to 15 December 2010. The Good Governance for Medicines (GGM)
programme team from the Regional Office introduced the GGM programme to
Egyptian national co-assessors who will be conducting interviews with key
informants in the Egyptian pharmaceutical sector.
More
Workshop on Access to
Opioid Medication in Europe (ATOME)
Bucharest, Romania, 25th–26th February 2011
The WHO Access to Opioid Medication in
Europe (ATOME) project conducted a workshop to train lawyers and national
counterparts on the review of national legislation of controlled substances
from the perspective of balancing availability for medical purposes and
prevention of abuse. Representatives of the Romanian National Drug Agency,
WHO and the Romanian Ministry of Health also attended the workshop.
More
 Being
sick and needing medicines is a costly misfortune in many
countries - a one day snapshot of a medicine's price across 93
countries
Briefing note on Health Action International –
Global Pill Price Check Day
Press release
New Section on the EMP website- WHO Prequalification programme in
the Eastern Mediterranean Region
 The
WHO Prequalification Programme was launched
in 2001, driven by global public health
needs, to achieve universal access to
quality priority medicines, especially to
those in need. The Programme strives to
achieve its vision through close
collaboration with national medicines
regulatory authorities and partner
organizations.
The Prequalification
Programme is a service
provided by WHO to
facilitate access to
medicines that meet
unified standards of
quality, safety and
efficacy for HIV/AIDS,
malaria, tuberculosis
and reproductive health.
The Programme is
supported by UNAIDS,
UNICEF, the United
Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) and the World
Bank as a concrete
contribution to the
United Nations (UN)
priority goal of
addressing the problem
of widespread diseases
in countries with
limited access to
quality medicines.
More on the programme
 Medicine
price surveys from the Eastern Mediterranean countries
 Medicine
Pricing Matters
Medicine Pricing Matters’ is a quarterly bulletin
published by HAI and WHO. It is intended to be informative about medicines
pricing work around the globe and about the outcomes of the WHO/ HAI Project
on Medicine Prices, Availability and affordability. The fifth bulletin of
Medicine Pricing Matters highlights the need to improve availability of
essential medicines particularly in the public sector based on the outcomes
of the WHO/HAI medicine price surveys; in response to the problem, civil
society organizations in five African countries echoed their concerns about
the poor availability of essential medicines through the new advocacy
campaign “Stop Stock-Outs”. Other articles include: the impact of setting
maximum retail prices on improving availability of 22 medicines in
Philippines, policy interventions by the Yemeni government to improve
control on medicine prices and counteracting bonuses in the medicines supply
chain, in Ukraine a study reveals poor access to palliative care medicines,
and the United Arab Emirates undertakes constructive policy reforms to
improve the availability of generics.
Click here to read
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