UNICEF Official hails India’s thriving pharma industry

India can share its expertise and learnings from the model it used to foster the pharmaceutical industry with countries and regions trying to build capacities, including how to incentivize the private sector, ensure regulatory and quality assurance systems are in place, and develop a globally competitive industry, Tara L. Prasad, Senior Manager, Centre for Health Emergency Strategy and Partnerships at UNICEF, said.
She is here to attend the third G20 Health Working Group meeting that is being held from 4 to 6 June. “Further, India can share lessons on how to create an enabling environment, including investments in human and physical capital, as well as its learnings in moving beyond the generic industry to the expanding research and development innovator industry,” Prasad said.
The G20 more broadly can call upon its industry to ensure manufacturers include licencing and technology transfer for essential and emergency health supplies in different regions to ensure equitable access. On the key lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic that can guide how G20 countries and the global health community collectively strengthen coordination for access to medical countermeasures Looking at Covid, some key lessons are that equity needs to be considered from the start and across the value chain. And, secondly, low- and middle-income country stakeholders need to be involved from the onset to ensure access partnerships take into account the context and needs of the countries they aim to support, she said. “Related to that, efforts need to be multi-sectorial considering the cascading effect of a health emergency—water, sanitation, hygiene, and infection prevention control measures are equally important,” Prasad stated.
Manufacturing of medical countermeasures needs to be geographically diversified to ensure resilience against global shocks, reduce lead times during an outbreak, and increase overall regional and global health security. “We need more investments in research and development for priority pathogens, including those with limited market size and limited R and D investments, and to create more incentives for industry to engage and increase risk-sharing between the public and private sectors,” Prasad said.
Equity needs to be at the heart of access to medical countermeasures, and the emphasis of global collaboration needs to prioritise reaching the vulnerable, the hardest to reach, and the most underserved, including women and children, she said.