Launch of the Medicines Transparency Alliance
Via Drum Beat:
Is the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) and How Will It Work?
MeTA is an alliance of governments, pharmaceutical companies, civil society, and other stakeholders which aims to increase access to essential medicines for people in developing countries. This will be done by working to increase transparency and accountability in medicines procurement and supply chains to tackle inefficiency, corruption, and fraud in 7 pilot countries: Ghana, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Peru, the Philippines, Uganda, and Zambia.
What is Transparency?
According to MeTA, “transparency” is: the property of being able to see through something. In financial and political terms it has come to mean the full, clear and timely disclosure of relevant information, which in turn makes for easier understanding and encourages public scrutiny of processes and practices.
For more information on transparency from MeTA’s perspective, please see [PDF]: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.medicinestransparency.org/fileadmin/uploads/Documents/What-is-Transparency.pdf
MeTA’s Pilot Phase
In this first pilot phase, MeTA aims to focus on strengthening the capacity of 7 pilot countries to collect, analyse, disseminate, and use data on the quality, availability, pricing, and use of medicines. This work intends to help improve transparency and accountability with regard to the selection, regulation, procurement, distribution, and supply of medicines - including the ways in which they are prescribed to and used by patients. At the end of the 24-month-long pilot phase, MeTA plans to use an agreed-upon set of indicators to evaluate the campaigns. These indicators, which are currently being developed, will focus on the process of facilitating greater transparency and accountability. However, MeTA plans to also use these evaluation efforts to begin mapping the contribution that greater transparency and accountability can make: (1) to improving the efficiency of markets and health systems, and (2) to the ultimate goal of increasing access to medicines in developing cou!
ntries, particularly for economically poor and disadvantaged people. MeTA plans to fully and directly involve the pilot countries in all monitoring and evaluation activities.
For more information on implementing the pilot phase of MeTA, please see [PDF]: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.medicinestransparency.org/fileadmin/uploads/Documents/MeTA_Implementing-pilot-phase.pdf
MeTA Dialogue
The MeTA Dialogue is an open online forum where you can have your say about transparency and accountability issues around medicines and see what other people are saying.
See: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://ww
For more information about MeTA please see:
* Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA)
http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.medicinestransparency.org/
* Q&A for the Medicines Transparency Alliance launch May 2008 [PDF]: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.medicinestransparency.org/fileadmin/uploads/Documents/MeTAQandA.pdf
* The MeTA Model [PDF]
http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.medicinestransparency.org/fileadmin/uploads/Documents/The-MeTA-Model.pdf
* Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) - 7 pilot countries
launched officially in May 2008
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/282263/2850