PH Pushes for Innovation and Access to Medicines and Vaccines at the 142nd Executive Board Meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO)
Director Maylene Beltran of the Bureau of International Health Cooperation of the Department of Health delivers the Philippine Intervention on Innovation, intellectual property and access to medicines and vaccines.
01 February 2018 GENEVA — The Philippines pushed for action towards access to safe, effective and quality medicines at the meeting of the 142nd Executive Board of the World Health Organization.
“The issue has been on the agenda for more than ten years and we welcome the progress made on this issue. We amplify the call for greater policy coherence between public health, development and trade,” Dir. Beltran said in her statement.
Dir. Beltran also welcomed the mechanisms put in place by the WHO in coordination with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), among others, to help member states navigate issues of access, innovation, legal and policy factors, and the interplay of trade and IP regimes which is a particular challenge for developing countries such as the Philippines.
The Philippines advocated for greater access to safe, quality and affordable medicines, in line with President Duterte’s thrusts to provide affordable and accessible healthcare for all Filipinos – a commitment under the 0-10 point socio-economic agenda.
As countries move towards achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, providing affordable access to quality, affordable medicines, vaccines, assistive technologies and health services falls under the umbrella of universal health coverage. According to the WHO report, up to 90% of the population in developing countries purchase medicines through out-of-pocket payments, making medicines the largest family expenditure item after food.
The problem of inaccessible or unaffordable medicines is a greater burden in treating noncommunicable diseases - many of which are chronic conditions that require long-term treatment and where incidence is on the rise. Data collected by the WHO in the past two years show that less than 10% of facilities in some countries have a complete “basket” of essential medicines for treating noncommunicable diseases.
Forcing down the cost of medicines and vaccines may, however, stifle the development of new treatment options, given the market driven industry which offers greater intellectual property (IP) protections to encourage innovation. Policy makers must find the balance between encouraging research and innovation while keeping medicines, vaccines and technologies affordable. Governments can play a role in driving innovation by lowering market risks. It is these options on policy interventions to protect the public health interest that the Philippines and other developing countries called on the WHO to explore.
Director Beltran, along with the Philippine Mission in Geneva, represented the Secretary of Health at the close of the Philippine term as member of the Executive Board. END
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