This Statement is made by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, the Global Diagnostic Imaging, Healthcare IT & Radiation Therapy Trade Association, the Global Self-Care Federation, the Global Medical Technology Alliance, and the International Council of Biotechnology Associations.
Our organizations believe that coordinated, inclusive, and multi-stakeholder action is the only possible solution to mitigate the impact of this unprecedented global health emergency, and believe the private sector must be an equal partner in coordination efforts. As WHO’s Director General has recently stated, “the private sector has an essential role to play in combating this public health crisis through their expertise, innovation, and resources.”
Since the early days of this pandemic, our industries have responded through many initiatives aimed at providing and prioritizing delivery of needed critical products to tackle COVID-19 while also addressing research and development of new health technologies including preventive tools, diagnostics, treatment, medicines, and vaccines, motivated by a strong sense of responsibility to act together, in partnership with WHO and governments, to support health systems across the world in a concerted and collective response.
The decades-long investments our industries have made in new technology, research, and treatments, underpinned by sound intellectual property protection, have prepared us to act swiftly to respond to the crisis: our member companies are pushing the boundaries of science, developing workable solutions and ensuring there is capacity to scale up, re-directing manufacture of urgently-needed products once solutions are found, while at the same time, ensuring continuity of global supply for critical products.
We are fully committed to the goal of accelerating development, production and equitable global access to safe, quality, effective, and affordable COVID-19 medical products and to ensure that in the fight against COVID-19, no one is left behind.
Lastly, COVID-19 is teaching us a crucial lesson: facing any global health challenge, in particular of such unprecedented scale, requires solidarity, truly inclusive cooperation and even tighter efforts to ensuring health systems’ resiliency.
