2007 WHA Resolution on progress in the rational use of medicines

60th WHA
3 May 2007

Res­o­lu­tion WHA60.16

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Analysis of precedential value

The World Health Assem­bly (WHA) is the deci­sion-mak­ing body of the World Health Orga­ni­za­tion. It includes del­e­ga­tions from every UN mem­ber state, which gather annu­ally to address ques­tions about WHO’s gov­er­nance, bud­get, and progress. Although WHA res­o­lu­tions are cen­tred on health, they engage top­ics rang­ing from mil­i­tary aggres­sion to migrant rights.

Used as precedent

societal enablers

• “Urges mem­ber states to develop and strengthen exist­ing train­ing pro­grammes on ratio­nal use of med­i­cines and ensure that they are taken into account in the cur­ric­ula for all health pro­fes­sion­als and med­ical stu­dents, includ­ing their con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion, where appro­pri­ate, and to pro­mote pro­grammes of pub­lic edu­ca­tion in ratio­nal use of med­i­cines.” (para­graph 1(4))

universal health coverage

• “Urges mem­ber states to develop and imple­ment national poli­cies and pro­grammes for improv­ing med­i­cine use, includ­ing clin­i­cal guide­lines and essen­tial med­i­cines lists, as appro­pri­ate, with an empha­sis on mul­ti­fac­eted inter­ven­tions tar­get­ing both the pub­lic and pri­vate health sec­tors, and involv­ing providers and con­sumers.” (para­graph 1(6))

positive legal determinants

• “Urges mem­ber states to enact new, or enforce exist­ing, leg­is­la­tion to ban inac­cu­rate, mis­lead­ing or uneth­i­cal pro­mo­tion of med­i­cines, to mon­i­tor pro­mo­tion of med­i­cines, and to develop and imple­ment pro­grammes that will pro­vide inde­pen­dent, non­pro­mo­tional infor­ma­tion about med­i­cines.” (para­graph 1(5))

access to health products

• “Requests Direc­tor Gen­eral in col­lab­o­ra­tion with gov­ern­ments and civil soci­ety, to strengthen WHO’s tech­ni­cal sup­port to Mem­ber States in their efforts to estab­lish or strengthen, where appro­pri­ate, mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary national bod­ies for mon­i­tor­ing med­i­cine use, and imple­ment­ing national pro­grammes for the ratio­nal use of med­i­cines.” (para­graph 2(2))