Governance  

Health systems rely on the continuous availability of safe, affordable pharmaceuticals of assured quality including vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and other medical supplies. Yet the availability of essential medicines in developing countries is often inadequate. Poor access—including lack of availability—and irrational use of pharmaceuticals, influences the performance of health systems and ultimately affects health outcomes. Factors that contribute to gaps in access and inappropriate use of pharmaceuticals include weaknesses in governance in pharmaceutical systems. Poor governance in the pharmaceutical sector can be costly for governments, and when it leads to the consumption of contaminated or counterfeit products, harmful for citizens.

Good governance in public health requires up-to-date, well-informed, and transparent policies, laws, and regulations plus mechanisms that allow for checks and balances throughout the process of exercising authority. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has identified nine characteristics of good governance—strategic vision, participation, transparency, consensus-orientation, rule of law, equity, effectiveness and efficiency, responsiveness, and accountability. The various decisions and actions taken in the process of managing pharmaceuticals and providing pharmaceutical services are exercises in assuring that good governance principles are followed at each step.

The SPS Program approach to improving governance and accountability in pharmaceutical systems focuses on helping countries to establish—

  • Policies and legislation supported by rule of law
  • Organizational structures able to exercise appropriate decision making, authority, and oversight
  • Transparent, ethical, and accountable systems and processes grounded in well-formed policies and legislation
  • Human resource management systems that promote effective performance and ethical practices

To attain these objectives and ultimately improve health outcomes, SPS follows an evidence-based operational approach at both local and country levels based on the following steps—

  1. Assess the existing situation to identify strengths and weaknesses in governance.
  2. Work with in-country stakeholders to review options and develop a customized improvement model based on the assessment results.
  3. Provide technical assistance to implement the identified interventions.
  4. Monitor and evaluate activities to strengthen governance.

Read more about SPS' work in governance in the program's newly published paper Pharmaceuticals and the Public Interest: The Importance of Good Governance.

 

Last Updated: 05 January 2012