MSF intervention on the report of the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development at 67th World Health Assembly
World Health Assembly 67 – Agenda item 15.2
Speaker: Katy Athersuch, Medical Innovation & Access Policy Adviser, Médecins Sans Frontières International
As we look ahead to the discussions Member States will have in 2016, MSF reiterates the urgent need for countries to put in place a sustainable global framework to comprehensively address the persistent R&D and affordability challenges of diseases affecting developing countries. With many health products unavailable, unsuitable or unaffordable, this problem directly affects the work of MSF.
At this Assembly, Member States are being asked to consider options for R&D coordination. The Secretariat has identified three such options: ‘passive’, ‘active’ and ‘managed’. MSF strongly urges Member States to pursue ‘managed’ coordination. By linking priority setting to funding this will give teeth to the coordination mechanisms, which would otherwise have a very limited impact.
While proposals for a pooled fund are not under discussion, two proposals are available on the WHO website; one by the African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation (ANDI) and the other by WHO’s TDR.
More analytical work is needed to explore concrete options for funding mechanisms that respond to all the recommendations of the CEWG report. It’s critical that funding is available for R&D proposals that fully implement de-linkage and respond to the priority needs of all developing countries. Such a fund should be based on mandatory contributions from Member States, who should be actively involved with its design.
Finally, we caution against proposed language to limit the application of CEWG recommendations to only low-income countries. As we heard from the Director General on Monday, ‘…around 70% of the world’s poor live in middle-income countries.’ Based on the CEWG’s recommendations and the Global Strategy and Plan of Action mandate, any mechanisms created should have a broad scope (to quote) ‘to stimulate research and development related to Type II and Type III diseases and the specific research and development needs of developing countries in relation to Type I diseases.’