Health Action International and Wemos | May 2025 | Download Report (PDF)
A new report from Wemos and Health Action International reveals how countries around the world are taking steps to implement the World Health Assembly resolution 72.8 on pharmaceutical transparency.
Titled “Pharmaceutical transparency: from resolution to reality”, the report examines progress made towards increasing transparency in the pharmaceutical sector – an essential factor in ensuring fair pricing and ultimately better access to medicines and other health products, and in improving accountability for decisions that affect public health. The report also makes recommendations to governments on how to make transparency a reality.
This report was launched at a side event during the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva.
Summary of recommendations
The report provides recommendations for WHO Member States, the WHO and civil society organizations to effectively contribute to greater transparency of pharmaceutical markets.
WHO Member States should:
- Implement legislation to increase transparency of – at least – the net prices paid, R&D costs and public funding of R&D of health products.
- Review (or actively contribute to) national legal, administrative and regulatory frameworks governing access to data about prices, costs, clinical data and health technology assessments in order to ensure better informed price negotiations and provide relevant information for patients.
- Ensure that medicines selection procedures are open to public scrutiny, transparent on the evidence they are based on and allow for public engagement.
- Recognize that confidential price agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers go against the interests of public health and good governance.
- Target excessively high prices and condemn infringements linked to anticompetitive practices such as the misuse and abuse of IP protection tools, in accordance with competition law and human rights treaties.
- Foster collaboration among public procurers and payers to share their data and publish them in a consolidated manner to inform the public.
- Invest in capacity building, including human resources and technology, to improve capabilities on price setting, cost assessments and information dissemination.
- Use the information obtained through transparency to apply a calculation model to determine the part of public share and a fair price.
WHO should support Member States in designing and implementing national legislation and policies, and facilitate initiatives for international collaboration. Civil society organizations should monitor relevant political and legislative developments, as well as advocate and support positive steps towards greater transparency.
If you would like more information please contact Jaume Vidal (HAI) at jaume@haiweb.org or Aliénor Devalière (Wemos) at alienor.devaliere@wemos.nl.