21 May, 2017 | Policy Brief for the 71st World Health Assembly | Download PDF

At the 71st World Health Assembly (WHA), Member States will deliberate on issues critical
for global health, such as access to, and shortages of, medicines, imbalances in the current
research and developement (R&D) model and the role of the World Health Organization (WHO)
in addressing new threats and responding to structural challenges. Civil society will play an
important and constructive part throughout these discussions.
The 13th General Programme of Work (GPW13), the draft of which was recommended for approval by the 142nd Session of the WHO Executive Board (EB142), notes that access to quality-assured medicines plays a crucial role in improving and expanding Universal Health Coverage (UHC). It adds that the high cost of medicines remains prohibitive for far too many people and sets out the plan for WHO to align its work more closely with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially SDG 3.8…

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