Hi,

Health activists are reviving the transparency agenda in global health.

In today’s op-ed, health experts weigh in on the unfinished business of bringing greater transparency in pharmaceutical markets.

We hope you find this useful in making the connections between the issues of access, intellectual property, and the pricing of medical products.

Next week will see a slew of side events on these matters alongside the World Health Assembly in Geneva. I will be moderating two of these. We hope to get a picture on the extent to which non-transparency in information related to production and pricing of medical products hampers public health goals.

Also presenting our jobs scanner today sooner than usual, because we have a full publishing calendar next week.

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I. GUEST ESSAY

Turn Words Into Action For Greater Transparency In Pharmaceutical Markets

By Alice Beck, Aliénor Devalière & Jaume Vidal

Beck is Policy Officer, Health Action International (HAI); Devalière is a Senior Global Health Expert at Wemos; Vidal is Senior Policy Advisor, Health Action International (HAI). Get in touch with the authors: jaume@haiweb.org

The lack of transparency in global health is a major cause for concern. Previous steps towards bringing greater transparency have not gathered enough momentum. Now is the time to revitalize action on this urgent agenda.

In 2019, the adoption of the World Health Assembly resolution 72.8 on transparency in pharmaceutical markets was considered a milestone in the quest for fair medicine prices and accountability for decisions that affect public health. In the six years since , several countries have taken positive steps to make transparency a reality, while others have lagged behind. It is high time for all governments to learn from available good practice and step up efforts.

In a new report, Health Action International (HAI) and Wemos set out to assess to what extent WHA resolution 72.8 has met expectations. Importantly, it judges whether the resolution has been implemented, adapted and used by governments and other stakeholders as a catalyst to promote greater transparency in pharmaceutical markets, especially regarding prices, and other critical information for decision-making. (The report will be released next week, on May 21^st). See an executive summary here:

Executive Summary Transparency Report

845KB ∙ PDF file

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Download

The report, “Pharmaceutical transparency: from resolution to reality”, covers a number of countries from the European, American and African regions and examines changes within legal and regulatory frameworks, proposals and policy initiatives, as well as the role played by non-governmental actors. It also provides concrete recommendations and a way forward.

Main findings

Political will of public office holders remains arguably the critical element in bringing about change. However, legislative and judicial bodies play a substantive role in adapting legal and administrative frameworks necessary for effective implementation of transparency measures.

There has been limited progress, in making key data such as prices or R&D costs available under certain conditions (in most cases these have been unrelated to WHA 72.8 per se). Simultaneously, there has also been a growing use of harmful secret practices, such as confidential Managed Entry Agreements (MEA) and confidential procurement deals, which deepen the information asymmetries in pharmaceutical markets, contributing to excessively high prices.

(“Managed entry agreements (MEAs) are arrangements between firms and healthcare payers; Financial agreements, which can reduce prices and/or budget impact of medicines without disclosing price concessions to third parties and without linking them to product performance, are currently used or were used in the past in at least two-thirds of OECD countries and EU member states.” See more on this here)

The quest for transparency overlaps with efforts for a better governance of pharmaceutical markets, which include placing special emphasis on anti-competitive practices, excessive pricing, and misuse and abuse of intellectual property protection mechanisms. Collaboration between public interest non-state actors and public authorities has been fruitful in a number of national instances.

For example, Spain has established a special institutional body: the High Transparency Council. Through this entity, citizens and entities can request access to government-related information, including on decisions regarding pricing and procurement of health products. Several civil society organizations have already successfully requested the disclosure of prices of certain expensive medicines.

In Chile, institutions responsible for ensuring free competition in markets have been advocating for increased transparency to enhance access to medicines. At the same time, executive and legislative branches have proposed modifications to the healthcare legislation, aimed at preventing price collusion between manufacturers and sellers of medicines, and establishing a national observatory of medicines.

Effective transparency policy does not only require national legislation but also – in parallel – international and regional collaboration. Several countries in Europe have already set up alliances and platforms to exchange information and negotiate together, aiming to maximize their purchasing power thus lowering the prices of expensive medicines.

The Key Role Played by Civil Society

Civil society has been pro-active in producing evidence-based resources on how to make greater transparency an achievable goal. Reports from MSF on transparency and access to medical products or No Es Sano on the challenges of only relying on listed prices are some recent examples.

Civil society is now bringing the issue of transparency to the 78th World Health Assembly. HAI and Wemos, will present their joint report in a side event and showcase the experiences of the Spanish and Colombian governments in their attempts to bring greater transparency to different spheres of pharmaceutical policy. This event will also be an opportunity to hear insights from Unitaid, one of the leading international entities working to close the gap in access to health technologies at the global level. Civil society organisations Salud por Derecho and Public Eye will share their national experiences trying to access relevant information and ensure that this information on pharmaceutical pricing remains accessible and open to public scrutiny.

On May 22, Knowledge Ecology International will gather representatives from the Drugs for Neglected Diseases (DNDI) and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), as well as HAI and Wemos for another event to discuss a work plan for WHO and Member States to improve the Transparency of the Value Chain for Biomedical Products.

Greater transparency in pharmaceutical markets is not only vital for public health, but also for public trust and accountable government spending. All relevant stakeholders must ensure that transparency in global health is a top priority in the political agenda at national, regional and global levels - in pharmaceutical markets, but also beyond.

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II. OPPORTUNITIES IN GLOBAL HEALTH

Compiled by Julia Dötzer

Senior Level

• World Health Organization: International Consultant - Learner-centered field epidemiology training & multisource collaborative surveillance
  Application Deadline: 24^th of May 2025
  Placement: Multiple locations

• Light for the world: Head of Global Communications
  Application Deadline: NA
  Placement: Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan or Mozambique

• FIND: Senior Manager- Country Programs and Partnerships
  Application Deadline: 14^th of June 2025
  Placement: New Delhi

Mid-Level

• UK Health Security Agency: Programme Officer (EU and Four Nations)
  Application Deadline: 20^th of May 2025
  Placement: London

• Wellcome Trust: Strategy Lead / Impact Lead
  Application Deadline: 20^th of May 2025
  Placement: London

• GAVI: Senior Manager, Governance
  Application Deadline: 28^th of May 2025
  Placement: Geneva

Entry Level

• International Committee of the Red Cross: Communication Associate
  Application Deadline: 31^st May 2025
  Placement: Geneva

All levels

• Stop TB Partnership: Consultant, different fields
  Application Deadline: 27th of May
  Placement: Geneva/ Remote

• International SOS: Global Health Expert
  Application Deadline: NA
  Placement: Milan

• Paris Peace Forum: Program Officer
  Application Deadline: 25. May 2025
  Placement: Paris

Fundraising consultant roster

• Joanne Sonenshine: Opportunity to sign-up for fundraising consultant roster to support grant writing, proposal development, prospecting and fundraising strategy development with experience in the Global South (former USAID included)

• UNFPA: Consultant Roster on rolling base

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