By Suliyat Sulaimon
The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially introduced the Health Technology Access Pool (HTAP) as the successor to the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP).
It says the WHO launched Initially in May 2020 in collaboration with the Government of Costa Rica and other partners, C-TAP aimed to ensure fair and reasonable access to COVID-19 health products worldwide.
This platform facilitated the open sharing of intellectual property, knowledge, and data among technology partners, fostering technological innovation and expanding accessibility to COVID-19 tools.
Despite encountering challenges in establishing a novel mechanism with limited resources during the pandemic, C-TAP successfully secured six transparent non-exclusive global licenses, encompassing technologies spanning R&D tools, diagnostics, and vaccines.
Notably, H-TAP now builds upon the foundation laid by C-TAP, implementing structural, process, and other changes to attract and support priority technologies more effectively.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, emphasized the importance of equitable access to essential health products in achieving universal health coverage and global health security.
He stated, “Building on what we have learned from C-TAP, the Technology Access Pool is a crucial step towards more equitable access to a broad range of health products through the sharing of intellectual property, knowledge, and scientific innovation.”
H-TAP aims to promote access to health products that address public health priorities, emphasizing pandemic preparedness both during and outside health emergencies.
The public health value of H-TAP investment will focus on enhancing the appeal of licensed technologies to recipient manufacturers, discovering greater market opportunities and ensuring financial sustainability.
An example of this approach is the licensing of a rapid diagnostic test platform technology, with further details on HTAP’s operation and targeted technologies set to be disclosed by WHO in the first quarter of 2024.
The official launch of HTAP is scheduled for the second quarter of 2024. In the interim, WHO will adopt the principles and approach outlined above in evaluating opportunities to secure health technologies and expand regional or global production capacity
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