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.
The pharmaceutical sector, with a US$ 750 billion global market value, is vulnerable to fraud and is an obvious target for corruption. Thus, coordination between various parties involved in the GGM programme is crucial in ensuring that pharmaceutical spending is not misappropriated and that essential medicines reach people – not the black market.
The WHO GGM programme is implemented through a 3-phase model process, starting with a national transparency assessment and followed by the development and implementation of a national programme for promoting good governance. This model process provides countries with a flexible road map to implement the national GGM programme. It is action-oriented, concrete and measurable. Ultimately, this process will also assist in institutionalizing the GGM programme in government structures. The GGM technical package includes the assessment instrument (phase I), the model GGM framework (phase II) and the implementation guide (phase III - under development).
Participants reviewed the GGM model framework, planned for the GGM impact monitoring and external evaluation, explored the content of a policy document based on GGM country case studies and transparency monitoring report and discussed the GGM global plan of action for 2011.Three officials from the Eastern Mediterranean Region participated in this event.
Future steps include the finalization of an impact monitoring framework, publishing the revised WHO GGM model Framework, conducting a writing workshop with GGM country representatives on the GGM policy brief, publishing a revised transparency monitoring report, initiating discussions on a technical guide for promotion of moral leadership and conducting a global meeting for GGM phase III countries later in 2011.
Measuring transparency to improve good governance in the public pharmaceutical sector in Pakistan