Seminar Outline
Sessions will be devoted to understanding the country situations on medicine prices and availability, price regulation and competition, impact of health insurance and other financing schemes on prices, availability and rational use of medicines, promotion of the use of generic medicines, quality regulation, good manufacturing practices and rational use of medicines, price components in the supply and distribution chain, public sector, local and generic medicine production, and consumer education, promotion and advocacy. The programme includes discussion on topics for further research and advocacy approaches with specific reference to the Access to Medicines Research Network – DFID.

Seminar Objectives
The seminar seeks to realise the following objectives by the end of the programme:

• have a general understanding of the most common problems in medicine pricing in developing and transitional countries and will have shared experiences in addressing these challenges
• have a general understanding of how WHO and governments support developing and transitional countries in strengthening availability of affordable medicines
• appreciate the importance of National Drug Policies as the best approach to make essential medicines of good quality available and affordable to all who need them, and ensure the rational use of medicines
• be aware of ways to strengthen collaboration with WHO and other organizations supporting the pharmaceutical sector in developing and transitional countries
• understand the impact of international regimes on medicines pricing, availability and price regulation
• be aware of current issues such as quality regulation, promotion of generic medicines and future research possibilities.

Presenters and Facilitators
Sessions will be led by senior officialas of the WHO HQ, WHO SEARO, WHO China, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (India), Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers (Govt. of India), Department of Health (South Africa) and DFID. There will also be presentations and panel discussions from faculty members from the London School of Economics (LSE), Indian Institute of Management (Kolkata), Fudan University, Mahidol University, Chulalongkorn University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as well as health policy researchers from the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). Moreover, presentations will also be given by medical professionals, drug manufacturers associations and civil society groups. One afternoon is available for discussion on the Access to Medicines Research Network of DFID.