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FIND statement on priority 2 at the second health working group of the G20 in India

Priority 2

Strengthening cooperation in pharmaceutical sector with focus on availability and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable medical countermeasures (vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics)

Keynote delivered by Marta Fernandez Suarez, FIND Chief Technology Officer
Goa, India, 17 April 2023

    Thank you, Chair. FIND’s goals are aligned with the G20 India Presidency’s vision to create a global medical countermeasures platform and establish collaborative R&D and manufacturing networks for diagnostics. We believe that robust regional development and manufacturing capability has significant implications for health and economic development and leads to a more diversified, resilient, and efficient supply chain that is responsive to local needs.

    In line with the priorities of the G20, FIND in collaboration with the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India and Unitaid hosted a high-level meeting on Sunday 16 April 2023, to strengthen public–private cooperation to enable sustainable innovation and manufacturing of effective, quality and affordable diagnostic countermeasures. The meeting built on a technical workshop in Goa that brought together 25 diagnostics manufacturers from 13 countries.

    The manufacturers are ready to support this initiative and are considering commitments and investments that would complement G20 support. In return, we ask governments and the G20 to consider the following enabling initiatives:

    1. Complement private investment by backing decentralized manufacturing in line with the G20 priorities and the proposed medical countermeasures platform. Funding by G20 should be made available to support building the full value-chain of diagnostics research, development and production, including infrastructure, technology transfer and south–south and north–south collaborations.
    2. Reduce trade and tariff barriers and restrictions to facilitate trade within regions, raw material flow and regional supply resilience.
    3. Strengthen regional regulatory mechanisms alongside global mechanisms, such as WHO prequalification, and policies to enable harmonization and facilitate fast-track regulatory processes for regionally manufactured products.
    4. Ensure that global and regional procurement instruments recognize a wide array of regulatory authorities and establish preferential procurement frameworks for regionally manufactured diagnostic products.

    These recommendations are aligned with the draft instrument of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body. We hope that these recommendations will be taken forward for consultation by the G20 countries in Hyderabad, for their eventual endorsement in the Minister’s declaration.