On Friday, 22 January 2021, Knowledge Ecology International delivered the following remarks on WHO”s Global Observatory on Health R&D at the 148th session of WHO’s Executive Board. At meetings of WHO governing bodies, non-State actors are limited to one minute statements.
Meeting: 148th session of the Executive Board
Agenda Item: 8. Global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property
KEI will make the following points bout the WHO’s R&D Observatory.
- So far, the Observatory has not played a useful role in the collection and dissemination of information about the economics of R&D. The Observatory is a thinly resourced web page that links to data from third parties. When originally proposed, it was expected to be more consequential, collecting and publishing data relevant for policy makers, including on the economics of R&D, in the context of efforts to reform R&D incentives.
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The Observatory should have as a priority to implement the operative paragraph 2.4, from WHA72.8, on transparency, which calls upon the Director-General to create a web-based tool to share information on investments, incentives, and subsidies relating to R&D, including for clinical trials.