On 3 November 2026, IFPMA delivered a statement at the opening plenary of the WHO Fair Pricing Forum.

Sustainable access to medicines and vaccines depends on addressing the full range of barriers that determine whether health products reach the patients who need them.

Access is shaped by many factors, including the strength and financing of health systems, the availability of trained health workers and diagnostic infrastructure, efficient regulatory pathways, resilient supply chains, effective procurement and reimbursement systems, measures to prevent falsified medicines from reaching patients and to increase their confidence in science, medicines, vaccines, and health care providers. A narrow focus on medicines prices risks diverting attention and resources from these wider barriers.

IFPMA has developed the Innovation Development and Access Pathway (IDAP), an end-to-end framework that identifies these barriers across the full pathway from R&D and regulation through procurement, reimbursement, and health service delivery. They differ between countries and need to be addressed according to national health priorities and circumstances. Importantly, this framework illustrates that there is often consensus among stakeholders from different sectors that systemic barriers, completely unrelated to pricing, can be amongst the most crucial barriers to accessing the treatments that people need.

Access to medicines and vaccines today and investment in future innovation must be pursued together. Scientific progress depends on an environment that supports sustained investment in research and development, underpinned by policy frameworks that recognize the value of innovative medicines and vaccines, and provide the predictability required for long-term investment.

The way in which medicines are valued is a competency for national health systems. In determining the value of a medicine, it is critical that governments reflect the broader value a medicine brings to patients, their families, health systems, and economies, and how the value can catalyze and sustain R&D investment in the next generation of medicines and vaccines.

The pharmaceutical industry works with countries to broaden access and address affordability challenges through pricing approaches that are suited to the country’s context, such as value- and outcome-based approaches, differential and tiered pricing, and other innovative pricing and payment models.

In order to support these approaches, it is important to reflect that the decisions higher-income countries make in valuing and pricing medicines will have an impact on how companies are able to approach their broader tiered pricing strategies.

The environment to achieve access is becoming more complex. To fulfil this mission, global health agencies, governments, and organizations across public and private sectors must play their roles and do what each does best to ultimately deliver improved and sustainable access to innovative medicines and vaccines. At a time when global health resources are under increasing pressure, institutions are being called upon to focus their efforts on where their mandate and expertise can have the greatest impact.

For WHO, this means using its technical, normative, and convening role to strengthen global norms and standards, regulatory systems, health systems, and pandemic preparedness and response. Focusing on these critical systemic barriers is where WHO can make its greatest contribution to improved and sustainable access to innovative medicines and vaccines.

IFPMA is committed to continuing to work with WHO and governments on these systemic barriers to sustainable access, contributing to better health outcomes, stronger economies, and increased health security globally.