49 Expand opportunities for production staff of local drug manufacturers to include practical
training which would complement the theoretical training provided by academic institutions. Such type of training is amenable to both north-south and south-south
cooperation, since several developing countries are no home to advanced industries that could provide training opportunities to nationals of developing countries.
WHO technical experts can work with private-sector companies to design and make a aila le odula pa kages fo lo al p odu tio fa ilities suited fo de elopi g ou t ies,
including advanced formulation facilities. WHO can work with the World Bank to design a financing package for such facilities.
4. Transfer of technology
Better, stronger and wider dissemination of needs and required procedures -- International health donors and government agencies should send clearer signals to
product developers about the products they wish to buy, the technical standards that have to be met, and approval and procurement procedures which need to be
followed. This is particularly true for diagnostics where product needs and assessment procedures have not been properly well defined at different levels.
Capacity building on how to negotiate effective technology transfer agreements may be useful, particularly for firms with limited experience in this area.
5. Application and management of intellectual property to contribute to innovation and promote public health
Ongoing efforts in training national drug regulatory authorities and policy makers on how to implement TRIPS in a manner that protects public health and expands the
space for local production should be strongly supported and continued.
6. Improving delivery and access
Countries need to streamline their system for regulating pharmaceutical and biotechnology RD needs, and strengthen their systems and capacity for evaluating
new technologies. At the same time, international systems for assessing and e o
e di g p odu ts, espe iall WHO s p e ualification program for diagnostics need to be expanded so they can handle more products more rapidly.
50 WHO should continue to work with national and regional regulatory authorities to
coordinate and further integrate rules and mechanisms for approving and monitoring operation of pharmaceutical production facilities.
7. Promoting and sustaining financing mechanisms
Both the government of Member States and international donors should expand financing for promising neglected disease product development projects, including
for late-stage clinical trials and for new innovation-driven firms. Joint financing schemes like the existing collaboration between the Department of Biotechnology of
India and the Wellcome Trust are a promising way to channel international funding for health RD
8. Establishing monitoring and reporting systems
There is a need for improved information about ongoing initiatives to provide a stronger evidence base for policy analysis and recommendations. A methodical,
comprehensive, regularly updated and publicly accessible database of relevant initiatives is currently lacking but is badly needed in the current fragmented
landscape.
Start activities for the development of the Regional Health Observatory in a phased way in 3 steps, as recommended by the 2012 Report to the Secretariat, as follows: 1
research phase; 2 planning phase; and 3 pilot-testing phase. The Region should already start the research phase needs assessment and situational analysis for this
undertaking
The current tool available for the assessment of GSPA-PHI progress is relatively complicated and difficult to implement. There is a need to make the tool more user-
friendly to encourage more countries to use it. The experience of countries like Sri Lanka who have used the tool will be very useful inputs in simplifying it.
