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Executives,
Colleagues,
I am glad to be meeting you all again. This is the
4th WHO/IFPMA Roundtable since 1998, when I took
office. This is a good opportunity to review our work together and to
measure achievements against expectations.
The environment in which we work has changed
drastically over these past years. There is, now, powerful political
commitment for the world to be a healthier place. Heads of
Government have come together at different fora over the last few
years and committed themselves to take positive action to tackle
health inequities. The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has issued
calls to action on HIV/AIDS. He took a personal interest in the
successful conclusion of last year's UN General Assembly Special
Session on HIV/AIDS. Civil Society, nongovernmental organizations and
the media have all played important roles in bringing global health
issues to the forefront of public attention.
There is clear evidence on what needs to be
done to implement these commitments. The Report of the Commission on
Macroeconomics and Health, released at the end of December, makes the
economic case for scaling up investments in health as a key to
reducing poverty. It shows how a healthy population improves the
prospects for economic prosperity, particularly if people's ability to
earn, learn and take advantage of opportunities, is undermined by the
high levels of illness. The report makes the case for a dramatic
increase in the levels of investment in health.
There is widespread acceptance of the need to scale-up
action for people's health - and particularly to make a massive
effort in nations whose prospects are undermined by their people's
high levels of ill-health.
It is well recognized, now, that scaling-up can
only be achieved if we all - whether public or private, north or south
- work together. We have to pursue common goals using agreed
strategies, and to make sure that we are confronting the illnesses
which cause the greatest damage to society - particularly among the
world's poorest.
We must do more. We have to demonstrate that we are
achieving results, in ways that make the best use of resources.
This is the fundamental premise of the new Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria. We have to show those who want to invest in
health - whether from the public or private sectors - that there
really are good investment opportunities for improving people's
well-being - even in the most resource-starved settings. Only then
will we see the dramatic increase in resources that will be needed if
the health of future generations in our world is to be guaranteed.
Colleagues,
Our roundtables have been part of the new
international movement for people's health. We have found that there
is scope for the WHO and research-based industry to work together. We
share the view that life-saving medicines should be accessible to
those who most need them. We share an intention that poor people
should benefit from efforts to discover and develop new products to
diagnose, treat and prevent illnesses.
We have participated, together, in the development
of a range of mechanisms to increase access to medicines and vaccines
of good quality, to strengthen their distribution and delivery, to
improve the operation of health systems, and to back further research
and development. Most of these collaborations combine country and
global perspectives and have been organized around specific health
conditions.
We have built on the experience of successful
public-private initiatives to control onchocerciasis, leprosy and
lymphatic filariasis, to vaccinate children against illnesses and to
eradicate polio. We can point to several promising innovations over
the last three years. They include the Global Alliance for Vaccines
and Immunization, the Medicines for Malaria Venture, the Global
Alliance for TB Drug Development, and - importantly - the Initiatives
to Accelerate Access to Treatments for HIV/AIDS. We have joined forces
within international initiatives to develop HIV, malaria and
meningococcal vaccines, and to improve poor people's access to
combination malaria therapy, treatment for multi-drug resistant TB,
human insulin, nicotine replacement therapy and effective treatment to
African trypanosomiasis. We know of 25 distinct international
collaborations through which research-based pharmaceutical companies
help to address the health issues faced by the world's poor people.
WHO has a part to play in all of these initiatives.
However, each is characterized by an interaction between those who
have the capacity to develop and produce products, and are committed
to make these products more widely available, on the one hand, and
those who need them, but can only afford to pay extremely small
amounts for them. It is the alliances, based on a shared interest,
that have the potential to make a difference. By working together,
within the alliances, we are able to address some of the
institutional, political and economic impediments to poor people being
able to access the health systems, and care, that they so desperately
need.
As a result of the collaboration between the public
and private sectors, and the powerful involvement of the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation and several national governments, GAVI is
blazing a new trail. Its focus is on the use of the best science to
drive the scale-up in vaccination efforts in the world's poorest
countries. Applications to GAVI are subjected to independent technical
scrutiny before investment decisions are made. The use of funds is
carefully monitored and the disbursement of additional funds is
dependent on the use made of previous grants.
We have worked hard to build an atmosphere of trust
and shared expectations between the public sector of developing
countries and the research-based pharmaceutical industry.
Much of our discussion today will be devoted to
reviewing ongoing collaboration and assessing the successes and
weaknesses. Yet today's stock-take cannot be as detailed as we would
wish, and we may wish to request some follow-up work too. The
objective should be to draw conclusions from our experiences and
provide guidance both to ongoing and to possible new initiatives.
Colleagues,
We will not hold the same views on all important
matters. Our Member States are adamant that we need to watch out for
undue influence from any one quarter. We should not be upset when
differences are made apparent: we should not expect total agreement on
all issues at all times.
Those who followed the discussion related to the
public-private interactions for health at the recent Executive Board
meetings and the World Health Assembly will have noted that our Member
States and other stakeholders are extremely concerned with ensuring
that the highest possible level of ethical principles and transparency
are directing WHO's collaborations with the research-based industry.
There are persistent fears - in particular among
civil society organizations - that private sector collaborations are
influencing WHO's policy focus and even the principles that underlie
our norms and standards. Although I know that such fears are
unfounded, these concerns must be addressed and the scrutiny that
results must be welcomed.
The integrity and independence of the normative
functions of WHO needs to be protected. I have strengthened procedures
to avoid conflict of interest in order to ensure that our Organization
remains independent and evidence-based.
We are committed to be transparent and clear in our
communication of these issues to all our partners and stakeholders,
including to you.
These safeguards will in the long run strengthen
the role we can play in our joint work, and I believe make us a better
partner.
Thank you.
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