The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Korea Policy Centre, World Health Organization Western Pacific Region (WPRO), OECD, and World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Health Systems and Financing (Director: Prof. Soonman Kwon) facilitated the 2nd meeting on “Access to Medicines under Universal Health Coverage in the Asia Pacific Region” held for two days last Sep 17-18, 2015 in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Experts and key officers from a total of fourteen Asia-Pacific member countries ( Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam) and experts from WHO-HQ, WHO-SEARO, OECD, WHO-WPRO arrived in Seoul for the meeting.
Following topics were presented and dicussed by experts.
- Pharmaceutical policies for UHC – Global Perspective (Dr. Suzanne Hill, WHO HQ)
- Latest trends in pharmaceutical pricing policies and gaps in evidence (Dr. Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar, University of Auckland)
- Medicines access issues in the Asia Pacific and the vision of the regional network (Dr. Klara Tisocki, WHO WPRO)
- Strategies to expand access to viral hepatitis treatment in Mongolia (Ms. Tsetsgee Purevjav, MOH, Mongolia)
- Access to new Hepatitis C treatment in Australia (Ms. Adriana Platona (Pharmaceutical Evaluation, Department of Health)
- Managing intellectual property for access to viral hepatitis medication (Peter Beyer, WHO HQ (Skype presentation))
- Access to medicines for the ageing population in Asia Pacific (Dr. Libby Roughead, University of South Australia)
- Country Situation Analysis in SEARO countries (Dr. Kathy Holloway, WHO SEARO)
- A proposal for a framework to assess the impact of changes in policies on pharmaceutical spending and coverage trends (Ms. Annalisa Belloni, OECD)
Participants also participated in group activities. Experts from each countries introduced their pharmaceutical system to participants in the poster session. They discussed on plan for the regional network to develop pharmaceutical network in Asia-Pacific region and shared the ideas for rational selection and use of medicines, affordable prices, sustainable financing, resilient supply system. They also also gave feedback on content of pharmaceutical system and financing profile for further development.