Health products production, management and evaluation play a key role in securing quality products at affordable prices and ensuring their adequate and timely supply. This helps to both ensure value for money and enhance access. Good supply chain management ensures that quality products are available at all levels of the health system.

The Access to Medicines and Health Technologies team supports countries to:

promote and set up an effective national health technology assessment process to inform decision-making on the use, reimbursement and/or pricing of medicines and health products;

improve procurement and supply chain management for health products through capacity-building on forecasting needs, procurement processes, warehousing and distribution, stock management, and medical device maintenance;

develop and update national guidelines on good distribution and storage practices for warehouses and pharmacies respectively;

promote fair and affordable prices and improve mechanisms for financing and coverage of essential medicines and health products in social protection schemes;

set up and promote ways to improve collaboration and information exchange on the price of medicines and health products across the Eastern Mediterranean Region;

ensure transparent and effective policies and actions for fair pricing;

strengthen local production of quality-assured essential medicines, biologicals and health products at affordable prices;

ensure a constant supply of quality, safe, effective and affordable health products through research and development that meets public health needs; and

develop a national strategy to promote local production of essential medicines and health products, ensuring an enabling business environment and the means to scale up production in pandemic and other emergency situations.