On 6 March, the World Health Organization, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Joint UN Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), in partnership with the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary General, as well as the Permanent Missions of Austria, Brazil, Egypt, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa and Thailand organized a briefing on promoting innovation and access to health technologies.
The objective of the briefing was to serve as a follow up to the UN resolution on “Global Health and Foreign Policy” (A/RES/71/159) and to provide an opportunity for Member States and interested parties to discuss related UN processes and initiatives around antimicrobial resistance (AMR), tuberculosis (TB), HIV, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and other health-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Panelists and Member States discussed the relationship between SDGs and the right to health and explored ways that could advance SDG implementation, particularly in the health sector. Mariângela Batista Galvão Simão, the new WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals in WHO, spoke on WHO’s new leadership in access and innovation to medicines, vaccines, and other health technologies. Building up on Dr. Tedros’ statement at the recent WHO/ WIPO/WTO symposium, noted that Universal Health Coverage is a key WHO priority in this regard, and stated that “People should have to access medical technologies anytime and anywhere”.
Other speakers included Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, Director of the Sustainable Development Unit at the Executive Office of the Secretary-General at the United Nations, Madam Ruth Dreifuss, the former co-chair of the UN Secretary General High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, H.E. Nontawat Chandrtri, the Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Thailand to the United Nations, Regine Aalders, the Counselor for Health, Welfare and Sport at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Washington D.C., Mohamed Omar Gad, the Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the United Nations, and Simon Bland, Director of the UNAIDS New York Office.
The discussion also allowed countries to share best practices and ideas on how access to health can reinforce and significantly advance the implementation of SDGs, especially SDG 3, underscoring how health is both an outcome and a determinant for sustainable development.