Achieving better health for children – leadership and accountability for access to #BetterMeds4Kids

Overview

The lack of access to appropriate medicines in adapted formulations to save and improve the lives of infants and children is putting children’s lives at risk, hindering the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Over the past decades, the World Health Assembly (WHA) has taken important steps to improve access to better medicines for children through the adoption of several Resolutions (WHA 69.20 , WHA 67.20 , WHA 60.20 among others). In its 2016 WHA resolution 69.201, WHO noted “that despite sustained efforts over a number of decades by Member States, the WHO Secretariat and partners, many countries are still facing multiple challenges in ensuring the availability, affordability, quality assurance and rational use of children’s medicines”. It further expressed concern about “the lack of access to quality, safe, effective and affordable medicines for children in appropriate dosage forms, and problems with rational use of children’s medicines in many countries” as well as about “the lack of research and development on age-appropriate dosage forms most suitable for children, as well as on new medicines for diseases that affect children”. These challenges combined with the lack of market incentives to invest and the fact that infants and many children are unable or lack the power or resources to advocate for their own needs means that governments play a critical role individually and collectively to take or support actions to ensure innovations and access to medicines for children.

At the 77th WHA, member states are deliberating over a resolution to “Accelerate progress towards reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality in order to achieve SDG targets 3.1 and 3.2.” This resolution states that “63 countries will miss the neonatal mortality target, and 54 countries will miss the under-five mortality target by 2030 “. One of the contributing factors is the slow development of paediatric medicines which continues to lag unacceptably behind that of adults by nearly a decade. Among other areas of maternal, newborn and child health, this resolution also calls on member states to enable development and access to age-appropriate, quality assured formulations of medicines for mothers, newborns and children. The resolution also calls on WHO to accelerate implementation of the actions laid out in resolutions made at previous WHA’s (WHA69.20 & WHA75.8) to strengthen and expand collaborative efforts for securing better access to medicines for children, and report on progress achieved.

Objective

The objective of this event is to have a dialogue among key stakeholders about how to strengthen and sustain political attention and accountability at the multilateral regional and national levels on innovation and access to essential medicines for children. In light of the 2024 WHA resolution on “Acceleration towards SDG targets for maternal mortality and child mortality ” and other existing commitments related to clinical trials and access in forgotten populations , maternal, newborn and child health access to medicines including the WHA 69.20 to mobilize leadership around debates on taking place at WHA 77.