As health-care budgets continue to be strained by the current state of the global economy, with the issue of access to expensive novel medicines persisting across the WHO European Region, WHO/Europe has released a series of technical reports calling for improved access to treatments.
Published as part of the Oslo Medicines Initiative (OMI) – a joint initiative of WHO/Europe and the Government of Norway launched in 2020 – the new documents analyse current evidence and put forward potential policies that can help people access some of these novel, yet high-priced, medicines.
“This is a crucial step in our commitment to improving and delivering health for all in the WHO European Region,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “Access to medicines, vaccines and related health technologies is central to any health system’s ability to provide care to its patients.”
The challenges associated with improving access to medicines are complex and exist across the entire European Region. This is why each report outlines technical issues and analyses them, taking into account the perspectives of different stakeholders: governments, payers, private industry and patients.
Since its inception, OMI has sought to bring the key players together to find solutions that can ultimately benefit patients.
What is in the reports
The 8 technical reports released on 1 September analyse the relevant evidence and offer policy considerations for both governments and private industry moving forward.
Authored by independent experts and externally peer-reviewed, the reports focus on the following topics:
- overview of the market for novel medicines in the WHO European Region;
- policy approaches building on the principles of solidarity, transparency and sustainability;
- new business models for pharmaceutical research and development as a global public good;
- payer policies to support innovation and access to medicines;
- policies for medical innovation;
- access to information in markets for medicines;
- access to high-priced medicines in lower-income countries;
- the social contract and human rights bases for promoting access to effective, novel, high-priced medicines.
On 12 September 2022, health ministers, high-level delegates, and representatives from partner organizations and civil society from the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region gathered at the 72nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, where OMI’s work was also presented.
“The Regional Committee marks the culmination of the Oslo Medicines Initiative. But this is not the end of the work. The foundations have been laid for the evaluation of a number of potential policy solutions,” said Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, Director of Country Health Policies and Systems at WHO/Europe.