Regional Integration and Cooperation to Promote Affordable and Equitable Access to Vaccines, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics in the Asia-Pacific Region – Action Plan for Sri Lanka

Thematic Area: Macro, Trade & Economic Growth

Start Date: April 1, 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed inequalities between and within countries in Asia and the Pacific in providing access to universal health care, including access to quality, safe, efficacious, and affordable vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. The pandemic has also accentuated existing weaknesses and deficiencies in health systems within countries, in terms of financing, human resources, and technologies. There is thus an urgent need to diversify production capacity for essential medical products (vaccines, diagnostics, and/or therapeutics) and to facilitate their access in Asia and the Pacific, including through securing essential technologies for manufacturing and utilising regional integration and trade mechanisms.

This project is aimed at strengthening the capacity of countries in Asia and the Pacific to develop coherent policies and practical strategies on trade, investment, technology transfer, and regional cooperation to address inequities in supply and capacity, within the broader objective of enabling greater inclusivity and resilience in national health systems.