Access to medical products in the South-East Asia Region, 2021

At the Seventy-first session of the WHO Regional Committee in September 2018, intercountry technical consultations following the Decision SEA/RC70(3) that was adopted by the Seventieth session of the Regional Committee led to the adoption of the ministerial “Delhi Declaration on Improving Access to Essential Medical Products in the Region and Beyond”. The Delhi Declaration1 was significant as it included a commitment for access to the entire range of medical products for achieving universal health coverage and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In addition, SEA Region Member States actively participated in global consultations that led to the adoption of significant World Health Assembly resolutions on this subject. In Health Assembly resolution WHA72.8 of 2019 on “Improving the transparency of markets for medicines, vaccines and other health products”, the World Health Assembly expanded the scope of “health products” to include “medicines, vaccines, medical devices, diagnostics, assistive products, cell- and gene-based therapies, and other health technologies”. Despite improvements in the availability of essential medical products in the Region, access of essential medicines and other essential medical products continues to pose a challenge. The high level of out-of-pocket (OOP) spending on health care in many SEA Region countries is a matter of concern, and is pushing around 65 million into poverty every year. This is mainly on account of spending on medical products, particularly medicines that account for the major share of OOP payment, in several countries of the Region.