A new Knowledge Portal that aims to ease policymakers’ access to reliable information about themes in medicines access, pricing and pharma innovation was launched today by the Global Health Centre of Geneva’s Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. The Portal currently covers some 17 topics grouped under three broad themes – Pricing, Intellectual Property […] Continue reading ->
As the debate over a draft resolution supporting greater price transparency for medicines in national and global markets intensifies, with closed-door consultations among countries at the 72nd World Health Assembly continuing late into the night, Health Policy Watch continues to feature diverse “Inside Views” on this charged issue. Here, Suerie Moon, MPA PhD, faculty member […] Continue reading ->
A side event yesterday on the margins of the World Health Assembly launched two new digital health initiatives, while a panel of speakers from government, industry and civil society described how the digital health revolution can help achieve universal health coverage. Image Credits: PATH, G20 Health & Development Partnership. Continue reading ->
The United Nations late last month sought to hold landmark high-level meetings on ending tuberculosis and fighting noncommunicable diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease, with mixed results. Now a Swiss-based expert is looking at the outcomes and what comes next, and in a webinar talked about the political trade-offs resulting from the meetings, the need to push for an integrated agenda on Universal Health Coverage, and how the private sector should be engaged. Continue reading ->
Transparency” and “accountability” are familiar buzzwords. Like salt and pepper, they pop up on nearly every list of ingredients for sound policy and good governance. But, as Ilona Kickbusch and Suerie Moon of the Graduate Institute Global Health Centre in Geneva point out, their details are rarely specified: transparency for what? Accountability to whom? On Tuesday afternoon, those not busy casting a vote for the next World Health Organization director general got the chance to dig into these questions at a panel co-sponsored by the Graduate Institute and FIND. In particular, discussion focused on transparency in terms of public access to two types of information: drug R&D costs and clinical trial data. Continue reading ->
The 70th annual World Health Assembly (WHA), now underway in Geneva, is shaping up to be one of the most consequential in memory. With a record-setting nine-day, 76-item agenda, plus dozens of official and unofficial side events, delegates and WHO followers alike will be hard-pressed to keep up. But yesterday’s introductory briefing, hosted by the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute, provided an overview of the proceedings and a few pointers on where to look first. Four items, in particular, stand out. Continue reading ->