WHO Regional Committee for Europe Calls for More Collaboration on Improving Access to Medicines

• 15/09/2017
• Articles

On 13 September 2017, the Regional Committee for Europe (“RCE”) of the World Health Organisation (“WHO”) adopted a resolution (called a decision) in support of cooperation among Member States to improve access to medicines in the WHO European Region (see attached). It did so on the basis of a report which outlines key issues and priority areas of work for improving access to medicines (the “Report”)(see also attached).
 
In wording endorsed by the RCE, the Report argues that Member States should collaborate more closely on (i) pricing and reimbursement; (ii) strategic procurement; and (iii) information-sharing and mutual learning. The Report thus echoes nascent forms of cooperation at the Member State level in the European Union and points to the examples of the Nordic Forum, the BeneluxA group and the recent Valetta Declaration for better access to medicines signed by a number of Mediterranean countries. The Report also highlights existing work at various other levels such as the EuroScan International Network, which carries out horizon-scanning activities, the European Network for Health Technology Assessment and EURIPID, the European Integrated Price Information Database.
 
Tellingly, however, in a move which mirrors Member State attitudes in the European Union, both the RCE and the Report stress that the Member States will continue to play a “primary role” in taking action in the very areas that were singled out for cooperation. As the Report points out, the RCE is thus destined to play an auxiliary role in supporting Member States to become more informed and sophisticated in pricing and reimbursement issues and access matters more generally.