Meeting: Seventy-first World Health Assembly (A71/1)

Agenda Item: 11.5 Addressing the global shortage of, and access to, medicines and vaccines

Statement:

The Medicines Patent Pool welcomes the report by the Director-General on Addressing the Global Shortage of, and Access to, Medicines and Vaccines. We note that one of the actions considered by the Secretariat as having the greatest potential impact on access to safe, effective and quality medicines is expansion of the MPP to include all antimicrobial medicines and patented medicines from the WHO EML.

The MPP was established and funded by Unitaid as a mechanism to promote innovation and access to medicines through public health-oriented licensing. It is a concrete example of progress in moving towards Universal Health Coverage by enabling over 100 countries get faster access to the latest treatments at affordable prices and in suitable formulations.
Currently, the MPP holds licences on 16 medicines with 9 patent holders and 25 partner generic companies to develop, register, manufacture and supply WHO-recommended products in LMICs. 17 million patient years of treatment have already been delivered by MPP’s partners in 127 countries.

Until now, the mandate of the has been limited to HIV, HCV and tuberculosis. In 2016, WHO and others recommended expansion of MPP’s mandate to include all patented essential medicines. With the support of the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency, the MPP has undertaken a feasibility study to assess the potential for the MPP to expand. The results of the feasibility study, along with MPP’s new strategy will be presented on May 24, at 6pm at an event taking place across the road at the Red Cross. We look forward to welcoming you there.
We thank UNITAID for the continuous support. We would like to thank WHO, Member States and other stakeholders for having encouraged the global health community to test this innovative approach in other disease areas. We look forward to intensifying the collaboration.