Scheduled for 4-7 November 2025 in Tunis, Tunisia
Registration for the Global Forum for Public Procurement of Health Products opens on 17 July 2025
Overview
Spending on overall health care has continued to increase as a percent of gross domestic product, with a global average of more than 10% according to World Bank figures. Other reports indicate that demand for medicines and health products is increasing, including new, higher-priced medicines. Digitalization, market consolidation, and pressures on national health budgets highlight a significantly changed landscape for the public procurement of medicines and health products.
The World Health Organization's Department of Health Products Policy and Standards (HPS) is launching the inaugural meeting of the Global Forum for Public Procurement of Health Products (Global Forum) to facilitate dialogue and action across experts and national leaders. The Global Forum aims to optimise connections between procurement policy and emerging practices. It will also explore the interdependence with other areas of the health system, such as regulatory systems, trade, and local production. Leaders will challenge and shape definitions of reliant systems with a lens of common goals and avoiding unintended consequences.
The theme for 2025 is leveraging the intersection of policy, procurement and quality assurance to articulate actions that advance the urgent need to improve access to quality-assured medicines and health products.
The Global Forum will facilitate an open exchange of information across national leaders from diverse contexts. Leaders and experts will have a unique opportunity to develop a shared vision of areas where procurement systems will need to advance to meet the evolving public health landscape, particularly under the pressure of increasing financial constraints.
The audience for the Global Forum seeks senior leaders to bring issues to the forefront of these important discussions. Heads of procurement and regulatory agencies, experts in quality assurance, pooled procurement mechanisms and other decision-makers will come together in the Global Forum to create momentum around critical and timely actions.
Objectives
1. Fostering collaboration and strategic partnerships through global dialogue
The Global Forum will encourage regional and global cooperation mechanisms, such as pooled procurement, market-shaping strategies and collaborations that support equitable access, with the shared goal of reducing the gap for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
2. Strengthening national capacity to ensure efficient, transparent and resilient procurement systems
Leaders will come together to facilitate knowledge exchange on policy and best practices for the public procurement of health products, focusing on the urgent need to advance efficiency in practice while maintaining transparency, accountability and core elements of sound policy.
3. Promoting innovation, digitalization, and data-driven decision-making
There will be attention on the emerging issue of procurement and supply chain data. The use of data in strategic planning, market intelligence, and performance monitoring is increasingly complex and important. Experts will discuss trends in digital transformation to improve access to data within the complex ethical landscape of data ownership, governance and the challenges of rapid obsolescence of digital technology.
4. Optimising the intersection between procurement and quality assurance compliance
Multi-disciplinary groups will explore the complex question of where due diligence and compliance within procurement processes align with regulatory systems. These parallel systems both have responsibilities in ensuring the procurement and distribution of quality-assured medicines and health products, and optimising this unique interdependence can break the cycle of price versus quality that leaves some markets with medicines that may not meet the required standards.
The Global Forum is not open to the general public, and registration is subject to the organiser's approval.
WHO reserves the option to prioritise the participation of leaders and decision-makers in the procurement and market authorisation of medicines and health products. Many participants will be nominated directly by their respective governments. Others working in public procurement of health products are encouraged to register and may be requested to provide a statement of motivation to determine if there is sufficient space for in-person registration.
Links for remote participation will be available for selected sessions. Information on these sessions will be updated on the Global Forum event website.
Contact us at: GlobalForumProcurement@who.int