WHO Country Office for India is organizing a ‘National consultation on Improving Access; Promoting Innovation in the context of Universal Health Coverage’ in collaboration with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India and the Centre for Technology and Policy, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras at Chennai from 7-9 August 2014.
Speaking about the workshop, Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India said, “This workshop is an effort to bring together representatives from key technical, professional and administrative organizations, which have a mandate for ensuring universal access to drugs, and to share the best practices in this area from across the world.”
“It is both an effort to build public understanding of these issues and to build capacity at the policy-making level,” she added.
As an increasing number of nations commit to universal health coverage, one of the most important challenges they face is ensuring universal access to essential drugs, diagnostics and medical devices. Access has always required active government intervention in the form of public procurement and distribution, price controls, quality assurance. A new dimension is an increasing requirement for nationally and internationally coordinated positions within governments on trade, innovation and intellectual property regimes.
The workshop will address these issues as also the challenge for governments to ensure that new drugs are in the pipeline and that they are affordable and accessible to the poor. Though most of the essential drugs and devices are off patent, this list is dynamic and in a period of eight to 10 years over one-thirds of the leading drugs in use for different conditions would change.
The workshop will also deliberate on compulsory licensing and highlight how with careful negotiation, nations can improve access to drugs, progress towards universal health coverage as well as promote innovation. Examples from nations like Brazil, Thailand, China and even South Africa will bring out how progress can be made towards universal health coverage.
Present at the inaugural session were Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India; Dr.V.K.Subburaj, Secretary, Department of AIDS Control, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India; Dr J Radhakrishnan, Health Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu; Dr T.S. Ravikumar, Director, JIPMER, Puducherry and Dr Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai.
The workshop is being attended by representatives of various ministries, government science and technology institutions, legal experts, international experts who have led similar work successfully in their countries, and civil society groups who have fostered public understanding in this area.