A three-day high level meeting on promoting policy coherence on health technology innovation and access for the African Regional intellectual Property Office (ARIPO) will take place in Malawi. The meeting has been organised by the Malawi government and United Nation Development Programme (UNDP).

Among others, representatives from Ministry of Trade, Health and Justice, regional and intellectual property offices, civil society, international experts, will join at the meeting.

Minister of Health Atupele Muluzi told the press that in recent years Malawi and other 18 Members States of the ARIPO have made amazing progress in improving public health and human development. However, infectious diseases and in particular HIV, malaria and Tuberculosis, still pose a threat to public health. In 2015, 90 per cent of HIV related deaths was in Sub-Sahara Africa.

Besides addressing issues of access to medicines, this meeting is also important to recognize the support that the country receives from partners like Global Fund and Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), among others.

The Minister pointed out that because the countries are developing economically, they will no longer qualify for support under the Global Fund and GAVI, and therefor they have to start thinking about the next step.

According to Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Samuel Tembenu, the meeting is coming at a time when countries around the world are using various means to guarantee access to medicines to their citizens. There is a wide recognition that access to health is very important to achieve human development.

This meeting is aiming to provide a forum for countries in the ARIPO Member States to exchange views on the developments related to the issue and to exchange experiences on best strategies to promote access to an affordable health coverage.