This report reviews the important role of medicines in health sytems, describes recent trends in pharmaceutical expenditure and financing, and summarises the approaches used by OECD countries to determine coverage and pricing.

This report reviews the important role of medicines in health sytems, describes recent trends in pharmaceutical expenditure and financing, and summarises the approaches used by OECD countries to determine coverage and pricing.

This study has emerged from an ongoing program of trilateral cooperation between WHO, WTO and WIPO. It responds to an increasing demand, particularly in developing countries, for strengthened capacity for informed policy-making in areas of intersection between health, trade and IP, focusing on access to and innovation of medicines and other medical technologies.

This report explores how data and digital technology can help achieve policy objectives and drive positive transformation in the health sector while managing new risks such as privacy, equity and implementation costs. It examines the following topics: improving service delivery models; empowering people to take an active role in their health and their care; improving public health; managing biomedical technologies; enabling better collaboration across borders; and improving health system governance and stewardship. It also examines how health workforces should be equipped to make the most of digital technology. The report contains findings from surveys of OECD countries and shares a range of examples that illustrate the potential benefits as well as challenges of the digital transformation in the health sector. Findings and recommendations are relevant for policymakers, health care providers, payers, industry as well as patients, citizens and civil society.

This report identifies eight key data governance mechanisms to maximise benefits to patients and to societies from the collection, linkage and analysis of health data, and to minimise risks to both patient privacy and the security of health data.

This study seeks to reinforce the understanding of the interplay between the distinct policy domains of health, trade and intellectual property, and of how they affect medical innovation and access to medical technologies. The second edition comprehensively reviews new developments in key areas since the initial launch of the study in 2013.

This report offers insights into the risks and vulnerabilities of the supply chains of medicines and medical devices. Policy options to anticipate and mitigate risks of shortages of medicines and medical devices, both routinely and in the context of severe crises, are analysed. Most importantly, the report shows that strengthening the long-term resilience of medical supply chains requires collaborative approaches that balance measures best undertaken by the private sector with those more appropriately managed by governments or supranationally.

The COVID-19 pandemic had massive consequences for societies and health systems across the OECD and beyond. Health systems were not resilient enough. Resilient health systems plan and are ready for shocks, such as pandemics, economic crises or the effects of climate change.

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, including analysis of its current trade and innovation strategies. Opening with a survey of the global pharmaceutical and medical device industry, Bhardwaj outlines the growing trade and trade interdependence among countries in the global supply chain. He adopts a trade competitiveness approach to analyze patterns of product specialization and examines the drug discovery process and its challenges in translating bioscientific knowledge into lifesaving products. Bhardwaj argues that further economic integration, collaborative R&D, and digital technologies may help accelerate productivity and address global challenges of escalating drug costs, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and pandemic risks. The book also considers how the industry may further green its supply chain, and thus contribute to SDG Goals 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing) and 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), before closing on a review of China and India, major players who have the potential to become drivers of low-cost medical products and innovations. With its evidence-based analysis, this book will be of great interest to researchers in pharmaceutical studies, supply chain management, global health, and health economics, as well as policymakers and professionals interested in the global issues facing the industry.