WHO to host meeting on improving access to paediatric medicines in collaboration with the Foundation

Millions of children around the world face gross inequities when it comes to access to healthcare. These children, most of whom live in low- and middle-income countries, are too often the last to receive access to lifesaving medicines for treatable diseases. 

The World Health Organization (WHO)’s accelerator, Global Accelerator for Paediatric Formulations (GAP-f), is organising an online event in collaboration with the Access to Medicine Foundation focusing on how the pharmaceutical industry can accelerate the development, delivery and access of critical paediatric medicines. 

The session will bring together large research-based pharmaceutical companies and generic medicine manufacturers, providing the opportunity to discuss challenges, solutions and potential partnerships centring around the goal to improve access to medicine for children around the world. 

The meeting will include a presentation on GAP-f’s strategy for 2025-2030 and a discussion on its draft framework, which serves as an engagement model for scalable solutions that promotes consistency and accountability. Additionally, breakout discussions will cover four priority disease areas: childhood cancers, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), malaria and epilepsy. 

About GAP-f 

GAP-f is a collaborative framework created by WHO to foster and formalise cross-sectoral collaborations that accelerate the development and uptake of the most needed paediatric drugs. This includes prioritising products, streamlining new clinical evidence, incentivising manufacturers, accelerating product development and coordinating the procurement and roll-out of drugs.