On Friday, 24 January 2025, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered the following statement at the first virtual meeting of the G20 Health Working Group (HWG) convened by the Republic of South Africa.
KEI comments at Jan 24, 2025, G20 HWG virtual meeting
KEI urges G20 members to endorse a robust progressive implementation of the measures to promote transparency set out in the WHA resolution WHA72.8, titled, Improving the transparency of markets for medicines, vaccines, and other health products.
The resolution was adopted in 2019, right before the COVID 19 pandemic, with strong support from several G20 members, including Italy, the United States, France, Brazil, South Africa, India, and Türkiye.
Among measures of interest are reporting of units sold, revenues and prices for products, and costs and subsidies relating to clinical trials used in development of new products.
These transparency measures can help G20 members design and evaluate policies and programs to achieve objectives relating to innovation and access to products, and enhance public understanding and trust in health institutions.
For the reporting costs of clinical trials, public subsidies, and prices, accounting standards will be helpful.
KEI also encourages G20 members to support a study of transformative changes in the business models to support biomedical innovation that progressively delink incentives to invest from high prices for products.
In December 2024, the US Congress included in a proposed bipartisan budget agreement a 3 page terms of reference for such a study. While the agreement did not reach a vote, after opposition from Elon Musk, the terms of reference were sound, and merit consideration.