The World Health Organization (WHO) hosted a briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on 1 February on the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines. Representatives of United Nations missions, international organizations, civil society and the private sector were provided with information on the context for the panel and on opportunities to interact with and submit contributions to its work.
The panel was appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in November 2015 to support the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 3: ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being of all. The key outcome of the panel’s work will be an evidence-informed, rights-based analysis of proposals and recommendations to promote the development and production of health technologies in a way that balances trade, human rights and public health.
Through a call for contributions and a series of hearings and global dialogues, the 16 members of the panel and its expert advisory group will consider a number of proposals and recommendations across all diseases, technologies and populations in low-, middle- and high-income countries in order to ensure that no one is left behind.
The United Nations Development Programme, in collaboration with UNAIDS, will serve as the secretariat for the panel, which will present its final report to the Secretary-General in June 2016.
“As part of the secretariat of the initiative, UNAIDS is confident that the deliberations of the High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines will assist the global community in eliminating some of the barriers that impede many people accessing life-saving health technologies, paving the way to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Tim Martineau, Chief of Staff, UNAIDS
“The High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines is built around the concept of universality, that the public health agenda is relevant to all countries. We expect that it will help build upon and not duplicate all previous efforts.”
Tenu Avafia, Policy Adviser, HIV, Health and Development Practice, Bureau for Development Policy, United Nations Development Programme
“We are talking here about access to new technologies, and that entails both innovation and direct access by patients to these innovations. The work we have been asked to do corresponds with the Sustainable Development Goals and is therefore part of the world’s will to contributing to developing health around the world. The challenge that we are facing is to find solutions that are both innovative and ambitious. ”
Ruth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland, Co-Chair of the High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines
