Unitaid’s Board welcomes new leadership and acknowledges strong achievements

Seoul – The Unitaid Executive Board elected a new leadership, reflected on its midterm strategy review and discussed ways to increase impact until the end of its strategy in 2021 and beyond.

The Board’s 32nd meeting opened with remarks from Korean Vice-Minister Kim Ganglip of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Kang Jeong-sik of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The Board thanked the outgoing Board Chair Ambassador Marta Maurás Pérez and Vice-Chair Ms. Sarah Boulton for their strategic guidance over the past years and elected its new leadership. The new Chair Ms. Marisol Touraine, former French Minister of Social Affairs, Health and Women’s Rights will lead Unitaid’s Board through an exciting new period. “The key to Unitaid’s future lies in facing up to new challenges in global health, with confidence in our capacity to rally partners around shared goals,” said Ms. Touraine. The Board also welcomed Ambassador Maria Louisa Escorel De Moraes as its new Vice-Chair. Ambassador Escorel is the Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva.

Adopting the midterm review of Unitaid’s 2017-2021 strategy, the board acknowledged that Unitaid is on track towards its mission to maximize the effectiveness of the global health response by catalyzing equitable access to better health products. The review confirmed that Unitaid’s investments support highly innovative health products such as medicines and diagnostic tools, which can save lives of millions of people and create greater impact for the global health response.

“Unitaid’s portfolio is robust and well aligned to global health priorities. Unitaid focuses on bringing highly effective innovations to those in need, which is critical to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals,” Executive Director Lelio Marmora said.

The next Board meeting will take place in Geneva on 20-21 November.

Read the Executive Board’s Resolutions and Minutes 

Read the Executive Board’s e-Resolutions

UNICEF and Unitaid join forces to improve the health of children, adolescents and mothers

Geneva – Unitaid and UNICEF will collaborate to save the lives of more children, adolescents and mothers, an agreement formalized by a memorandum of understanding signed today.

With decades of experience fighting the biggest diseases threatening children under five, adolescent girls and young women, the newly signed memorandum will align the complementary efforts of the organizations to end malaria, pneumonia, HIV, tuberculosis and cervical cancer, to expand access to innovative point-of-care diagnostics, and to improve fever management in children.

“Unitaid and UNICEF have worked together on a number of lifesaving projects. Formalizing our collaboration will make our response stronger, faster and more effective,” Unitaid Executive Director Lelio Marmora said. 

Marmora and Fore signed the agreement. 

“Partnership and innovation have been the hallmark of the UNICEF-Unitaid partnership over many years. This new memorandum builds on this legacy, bringing together our resources, expertise and products to improve health outcomes in the communities–and for the children–who need it most,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore said.

By teaming up in the fight against major disease killers in children, adolescents and mothers, Unitaid and UNICEF will work towards the Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage for a better tomorrow.

Dr Tedros, directeur général de l’OMS, affirme que les efforts d’Unitaid stimulent les systèmes de santé dans le monde

Genève – Le Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, directeur général de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS), a souligné aujourd’hui l’importance fondamentale de l’innovation aux fins de la concrétisation des objectifs de développement durable pour la santé dans le monde, et a affirmé que les efforts d’Unitaid présentaient le potentiel nécessaire pour changer en profondeur la santé des personnes, des familles, des communautés et des nations.

« C’est un fait : l’innovation a toujours été à la source des progrès en matière de santé humaine», a déclaré le Dr Tedros ce mardi lors du Forum 2019 sur la mise en œuvre des subventions d’Unitaid. Et d’illustrer son propos au moyen des exemples de la pénicilline, de l’anesthésie, de la théorie des germes, de l’assainissement et du séquençage du génome humain.

Le Dr Tedros s’est adressé au secrétariat d’Unitaid ainsi qu’à une assemblée composée d’experts de la santé dans le monde, de décideurs et de plus d’une centaine de membres du personnel stratégique et opérationnel participant aux 42 programmes de subventions actives d’Unitaid.

« Les projets que vous financez et les réductions de tarifs que vous négociez profitent au système de santé dans son intégralité », a-t-il déclaré.

Faisant à nouveau référence à Unitaid, il a salué sa « capacité unique d’adaptation constante aux besoins changeants de la santé dans le monde » et a appelé à un renforcement de l’harmonisation des mesures de l’OMS et d’Unitaid afin de garantir que les innovations sanitaires ne « sont pas arrêtées net sur le chemin de la modulation des ressources et de la durabilité ».

Selon lui, l’OMS se doit de jouer un rôle particulier dans la protection de l’introduction à grande échelle d’innovations sanitaires.

« Notre mandat global et notre présence sur la scène internationale nous confèrent une position de choix dans la généralisation des innovations », a-t-il affirmé. « Nous pouvons contribuer à l’adéquation entre les innovations empiriques et les demandes émanant des différents pays. Nous sommes conscients que nous devons nous investir dans ce rôle bien plus activement qu’auparavant. »

Le Dr Tedros a appuyé les travaux récemment entrepris par Unitaid en faveur de la lutte contre le paludisme à Plasmodium vivax ainsi que les efforts mobilisés par cette entité en vue de déployer des technologies durables pour combattre le virus de l’immunodéficience humaine, la tuberculose, le paludisme et l’hépatite C dans des pays à plus faible revenu.

Le forum se poursuivra toute la journée du mercredi et sera consacré à la « modulation des ressources», à savoir l’extensibilité d’innovations ayant fait leurs preuves à tous ceux qui en ont besoin.

Unitaid recherche des technologies innovantes et durables pour aider à lutter contre les maladies

Genève – Unitaid a le plaisir d’annoncer un appel à propositions pour des projets visant à accélérer le développement de versions à action prolongée de médicaments, susceptibles de révolutionner le traitement et la prévention de maladies telles que le VIH, la tuberculose et le paludisme dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire.

Il existe des médicaments oraux quotidiens sûrs et efficaces pour la prévention et le traitement des principales maladies, mais ils ne sont pas toujours pris de façon constante, ce qui entraîne une détérioration de la santé, la propagation des maladies et le développement de superbactéries résistantes aux médicaments.

Les traitements à action prolongée comprennent les médicaments injectables à libération lente, les implants, les timbres ou anneaux qui peuvent durer plus d’un mois, ainsi que des médicaments oraux qui peuvent être actifs plus d’une semaine. Cette façon d’administrer des médicaments libère les patients de schémas thérapeutiques complexes et quotidiens qui comportent de nombreuses pilules, et pourrait également améliorer l’accès aux médicaments et lutter contre la stigmatisation.

Unitaid fait appel à des propositions qui :

  • reformulent des médicaments de référence essentiels en produits à longue durée d’action ;
  • permettent la mise en œuvre de plans solides pour commercialiser ces produits, y compris une stratégie de mise à l’échelle pour les déployer à grande échelle ;
  • se concentrent sur des produits pouvant être lancés sur le marché dans un délai de trois à cinq ans.

Par le biais d’appels à propositions, Unitaid trouve de nouvelles idées intelligentes pour contribuer à alléger le fardeau des maladies et mène des projets pilotes qui, s’ils réussissent, sont déployés à grande échelle par des organisations partenaires telles que le Fonds mondial. Un comité d’examen indépendant composé d’experts en santé mondiale aide Unitaid à choisir les meilleures propositions à financer grâce à un processus de sélection concurrentielle.

Unitaid apporte son soutien au programme de préqualification de l’OMS

Geneva – Unitaid is investing a further $22.1 million in the World Health Organization´s (WHO) prequalification programme for medicines and diagnostics.

Unitaid has supported the prequalification programme for medicines since 2006, and for diagnostics since 2009. With the new investment, Unitaid´s support to the programme now stands at about US$ 157 million.

‘WHO is grateful for Unitaid’s support to our prequalification programme,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “It has been critical in ensuring that the health products reaching millions of patients across the world are of good quality, safe and effective.”

The new grant, for 2019-2021, supports some aspects of prequalification of medicines and in vitro diagnostics, and the WHO collaborative procedure for registration.

WHO prequalification is an internationally recognized process that enables medicines and other health products to be procured and distributed by international funding bodies such as the Global Fund.

WHO, Unitaid and the Global Fund are among the 12 organizations that have united to accelerate progress towards the health-related SDGs through a shared Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All.

Intellectual property report on long-acting technologies

Medicines We Can Trust Campaign Rallies Mekong Governments and Leaders to Improve Access to Quality Medicines

PHNOM PENH, 7 November 2018 – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and other leaders from the Greater Mekong Subregion joined hands as part of a global campaign to improve access to quality medicines. The announcement was made during the Phnom Penh Regional Conference on the fight against falsified, substandard and unlicensed medical products.

The Medicines We Can Trust campaign is a global movement advocating for access to quality medicines and stronger health regulatory systems.

“The world wastes approximately US$30 billion each year on poor-quality medicines,” said Dr. Phillip Nguyen, Director, International Regulatory Policy & Programs, USP, a committed partner of the campaign. “Substandard and falsified medicines give patients false hope, erodes trust in health systems and fail to protect people from the devastating impact of diseases. Despite the scale of this issue, it is rarely prioritized – or even discussed outside of expert circles.  The Medicines We Can Trust initiative is a multi-stakeholder effort focused on raising awareness on the impact of poor-quality medicines on peoples’ lives.”

At least one in 10 medicines are copied illegally with substandard manufacturing practices in low- and middle-income countries, including many countries in Asia Pacific. In Southeast Asia alone, an estimated 30% of antimalarial drugs are of poor-quality contributing to an alarming rise in antimalarial resistance across the region. Anti malarials is just one of a broader range of drugs that are becoming in-effective; antimicrobial resistance already accounts for 700,000 deaths every year, could cause up to 10 million deaths per year, and cost US$100 trillion by 2050.

“In the Greater Mekong Subregion, cross-border collaboration between countries will be critical to stop the ongoing distribution of poor-quality medicines through trade channels. Cambodia’s leadership in convening a regional and multisectoral meeting to address the issue is a great start,” said Ruby Shang, Chair of the Asia Pacific Leaders’ Malaria Alliance (APLMA) Board.

“Momentum is building. Apart from the Cambodia conference, positive leadership on this issue is evident through existing platforms like Medicine Quality & Global Health conference, and Regional Regulatory Partnership (RRP). This global campaign will further strengthen this leadership as it engages the regional community, including policymakers, civil society, regulators, health professionals, and researchers to act against substandard and falsified medicines.” added Dr. Sivong Sengaloundeth, Deputy Director General, Food and Drug Department, Ministry of Health, Lao PDR.

“Ensuring that all people can access quality medicines to effectively fight infectious diseases is crucial. Unitaid is proud to support the campaign against poor-quality medicines to tackle the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance,” said Dr. Philippe Duneton, Unitaid’s Deputy Executive Director. “These superbugs are threatening the global health community’s gains against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria and jeopardizing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.” Unitaid invests half of its portfolio – US$ 500 million – in innovative grants to combat drug resistance and is a committed partner of the campaign.

Visit Medicines We Can Trust to get involved and learn more. #MedsWeCanTrust 

 

Lancet commentary highlights Unitaid interest in long-acting technologies to treat diseases

GENEVA – Unitaid is working with partners and stakeholders to explore introduction of long -acting (LA) technologies – such as injectable drugs, patches and implants – to treat infectious diseases in low and middle-income counties (LMICs), according to a commentary co-authored by Unitaid’s Executive Director Lelio Marmora and published in the Lancet.

“To avoid the pitfalls of the past, when new medicines were introduced first in high-income countries and only much later in LMICs, we need to be thinking ahead about LA technologies for infectious diseases,” said the article, co-authored by Carmen Perez Casas, Ian Grubb, Craig McClure and Marmora.

A global technical consultation will be held in Geneva on 1-2 November to consider the science and market landscapes for LA technologies.

Scientific and technological advances may make it possible over the next decade for children to be protected from malaria for an entire season with a single injection of chemoprophylaxis, for example, or for women to protect themselves from being infected with HIV by taking capsules once a fortnight that slowly release antiretroviral medicine.

The article cited Cabotegravir, a new antiretroviral drug, that is being studied as a singular intramuscular injection every eight weeks for pre-exposure prophylaxis, as well as LA formulations in malaria that are being explored for chemoprophylaxis and vector control.

Apart from injectable drugs, once-weekly gastric resident capsules, various types of patches, implants and vaginal rings were also being developed to deliver long-acting medicines, the article said.

Long-acting technologies are likely to pose big challenges in low and middle-income countries and will require stronger health systems in managing supply chains and medical waste.

Difficult intellectual property and generic manufacturing issues will also have to be sorted out before the completion of clinical trials, if LA products are to be sourced from generic suppliers, as is the case with more than 90 percent of antiretroviral drugs supplied by funders such as the Global Fund and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the article added.

“Above all, LA approaches in addition to being safe must be designed upfront for simplicity to minimize burden and increase convenience for patients, providers and health services.” Please click here to read the commentary in full.