Opening Remarks by Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director at the Regional Health Alliance meeting on Access to Medicines

03 December 2025

Distinguished colleagues and partners,

Good morning, and thank you for joining this important meeting of the Regional Health Alliance.

I am very pleased to welcome the Regional Directors of UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, UNIDO, UNODC, and the World Bank. Your presence reflects our shared commitment to improving access to quality medical products across the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Over the past few years-especially during COVID-19-we have seen clearly that procurement, production, and regulation are the backbone of our health security. When they work well, countries can manage crises and keep essential services running. When they don't, the impact is immediate and severe.

This is especially true in our Region. Although we represent less than 10 per cent of the world's population, we accounted for more than half of WHO's global procurement in 2024-2025. This tells us two things: the scale of need is enormous, and we must strengthen our own systems to become more resilient and more self-reliant.

This is why our flagship initiative on Expanding Equitable Access to Medical Products focuses on three key pillars:

• efficient procurement and supply chains,
• strong regulatory systems, and
• solid local production capacity.

These three areas are absolutely central to ensuring timely access to medical products.

First, improving procurement and supply chains-including through the EMRO pooled procurement mechanism-will help countries get better prices, ensure quality, and make sure essential products reach facilities when they are needed.

Second, strong regulatory systems are essential for faster approvals without compromising safety. The progress we are seeing-from Saudi Arabia's progress towards becoming the Region's first WHO-Listed Authority to advances in Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, and Tunisia-shows what's possible when countries invest in regulatory strength. The new North Africa harmonization initiative is another encouraging step in the right direction.

Third, expanding local production-"from the Region, for the Region"-is vital for long-term resilience. More countries are moving into vaccine production, mRNA technology, and essential medicines manufacturing, helping reduce dependence on global supply chains.

To advance all these areas, collaboration across this Alliance will be a gamechanger. By working together, sharing expertise, and aligning our efforts, we can build a stronger and more sustainable system that accelerates access to essential medical products and improves health outcomes for everyone in our Region.