The fate of a potentially game-changing World Health Assembly resolution that would support greater national and global transparency in drug pricing remained in the balance today as the country co-sponsors tabled a resolution riddled with comments and caveats, and a “drafting group” was urgently formed to huddle on ways to move forward on a compromise […] Continue reading ->
[Re-posted from Knowledge Ecology International.] By James Love, Director of Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) – 22 May 2019 Perhaps the toughest issue in the 72nd World Health Assembly negotiations on a WHO transparency resolution concerns the proposal to require public reporting of the costs of each clinical trial undertaken for development of drugs, vaccines, cell- […] Continue reading ->
The room holding the high-level side event on transparency of pharmaceutical product markets was overflowing today – with dozens of people standing to hear the speakers – many of them ministers of health, reflecting the importance of the topic at the 72nd World Health Assembly. Image Credits: Catherine Saez. Continue reading ->
UNAIDS calls on all countries to remove laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, and to enact laws that protect them, in order to ensure that all people have full access to health services for HIV/AIDS. Image Credits: UNAIDS. Continue reading ->
A new open-access study on quality of life among the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals has been launched by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDs (UNAIDS) and the LGBT Foundation – and members of those communities are being invited to complete a 12-minute survey. Continue reading ->
More than 100 civil society organisations and health experts signed on to an open letter yesterday calling out Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the UK and Australia, along with Austria and the United States, as wanting to “derail” and “weaken” the transparency resolution on drug prices and R&D costs. Image Credits: CDDEP. Continue reading ->
A new draft text from an informal consultation at the World Health Organization yesterday shows a North-South divide emerging as member states made changes to the proposed resolution on the transparency of drug prices and the costs of research and development (R&D), brought forward by Italy earlier this year, that is slated for discussion at […] Continue reading ->
A number of developed countries are working to delay a landmark proposal at the World Health Organization by Italy to increase transparency of drug prices and R&D costs in an effort to make medicines more affordable, according to sources. The Italian proposal has garnered a number of supporters, including within Europe; but at an informal WHO consultation today and last week at the European Union, countries such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom have begun pushing for postponement of discussions, sources said. [Now updated with new version of proposal!] Continue reading ->
New York – Strengthening references to sexual and reproductive health and rights, marginalised people, and public-private partnerships that ensure rights and inclusion, were among the core proposals pitched yesterday at a United Nations multi-stakeholder meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), involving representatives of government, UN agencies, civil society and the private sector. The milestone meeting […] Continue reading ->
Deaths from infections resistant to common antibiotics, antivirals and anti-parasitic drugs could increase more than ten-fold to 10 million deaths annually by 2050, warns a ground-breaking United Nations report released today. Image Credits: WHO/Quinn Mattingly, UN. Continue reading ->