Public procurement as key tool to tackle health issues discussed at WHO-WIPO-WTO webinar

The event also presented procurement as a mechanism for fostering innovation, technology transfer and local manufacturing.

Clive Ondari from the WHO Secretariat noted that in many countries, access to medical technologies is driven by public procurement as pharmaceuticals are often made available through public funding or subsidies.To ensure efficient procurement, systems must rely on quality medical products obtained in a timely manner in the required quantities and at affordable prices. These elements are particularly important in the health sector given the large expenditures, with some programmes paying considerably more than necessary for medicines.

Amy Dietterich from the WIPO Secretariat emphasized the role of collaboration and tailored strategies to ensure procurement serves as an effective tool for innovation and access. Learning how governments develop laws and policies, how different initiatives determine strategies and priorities to support procurement practices, and how this tool benefits from an integrated view of public health, intellectual property (IP), and trade is important.

Roger Kampf from the WTO Secretariat highlighted the importance of a cross-disciplinary approach, including IP, procurement and competition frameworks to effectively address global health challenges. He noted that beyond obtaining best value for money, sound procurement can foster technology transfer, boost local manufacturing capacities and strengthen research and development (R&D) capacities as well as supply chain resilience.

The webinar featured presentations examining the health, IP and trade dimensions of public procurement alongside case studies from experts representing various regional and local mechanisms, who highlighted their respective approaches to public procurement.

Lisa Hedman from the WHO Secretariat highlighted procurement as a lever in the context of the WHO Roadmap on Access to Medicines 2025 - 2030 to improve affordability, availability, accessibility and acceptability for health products and technologies.

Giovanni Napolitano from the WIPO Secretariat explained the role of public procurement as a key driver of innovation in the healthcare area. IP may influence access, pricing and innovation by informing who holds rights to key technologies (patent landscapes), delimiting freedom to operate and avoiding IP infringement, encouraging voluntary licensing for broader access, and assessing the impact of data exclusivity on competition. Well-designed, pro-competitive tenders are essential for rewarding R&D, preventing monopolies and improving access. He emphasized the importance of IP due diligence early in procurement processes, building capacity for IP management within agencies and fostering public-private partnerships around IP.

Astghik Solomonyan from the WTO Secretariat addressed the benefits of combining pooled public procurement with international trade. At the country level, pooled procurement with its implied larger orders and trade agreements (e.g. the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement 2012) with their market access and good governance guarantees can attract international suppliers offering competitive prices or superior quality. At the international level, recent experience has highlighted the importance of global supply chain resilience. Trade agreements provide international suppliers with the market access needed to establish additional production and distribution facilities while pooled procurement helps to generate the level of demand necessary to keep such facilities operational.

Lucia Rizka Andalucia, Ministry of Health Indonesia representative, shared how the country has strategically positioned public procurement as a key instrument to drive national innovation and industrial development by boosting local production, ensuring market access for domestic products and strengthening collaboration among stakeholders.

The representative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Santiago Cornejo, explained the Revolving Fund mechanism, which enables countries across the Americas to access quality vaccines, essential medicines and health products, including diagnostics, using pooled procurement, which consolidates reliable and predictable demand from member states. He also mentioned the reorientation of the Fund in response to COVID-19 toward supporting innovation, technology transfer and local manufacturing.

The EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) representative, Katarzyna Motyka, presented the EU joint procurement mechanism based on the lessons learned from COVID-19. She highlighted how the mechanism ensures equitable access to essential health products among member states, complements national initiatives and strengthens public procurement systems across Europe on a voluntary basis.

The representative of the Gulf Health Council, Fathi Alkathiry, clarified how the Gulf Joint Procurement Program has, through the years, developed efficient decision-making processes for a multi-country pooled procurement tendering to facilitate the procurement of medicines and medical supplies. The Gulf Cooperation Council has also taken measures to promote local manufacturing, including the use of procurement to develop local industries. These efforts have contributed to regional growth in the industrial sector. In 2024, the Gulf region counted 74 pharmaceutical factories and 140 medical supply factories.

Lastly, the representative from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and Regional Economic Communities, Wesley Ronoh, shared Africa's experience with public procurement, highlighting the role of the East African Community, Southern African Development Community, and Economic Community of West African States in fostering collaboration. He further noted that public procurement plays a critical role in national health strategies in Africa as an estimated 40% of health spending in many African countries occurs through it. The African Pooled Procurement Mechanism, established in 2024, was also presented.

The video recording of the webinar is available here.

Trilateral collaboration of WHO, WIPO and WTO

The secretariats of the WHO, WIPO and the WTO organize capacity building and technical assistance activities on current issues to enhance the flow of updated and technical information related to innovation and access to health technologies. The objective of the Trilateral Cooperation workshops and webinars is to strengthen the capacity of law and policymakers and experts in member governments by facilitating access to expertise, data and evidence and deepen discussions of critical issues at the intersection of public health, IP and trade.

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