On 28 May 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved the resolution proposed by Italy, together with 18 other countries, to improve the transparency of the prices and patents of medicinal products, vaccines and other healthcare products. The purpose of the initiative is to help the Member States take better-informed decisions when purchasing healthcare products, negotiate more accessible prices and thereby broaden public access to these products. The availability of comparable information should facilitate greater cost-effectiveness and equal access to healthcare products.

The resolution invites the Member States, in accordance with their national laws, to implement systems for public dissemination of information on the actual prices of healthcare products and to guarantee greater transparency of information about the status of their patents.

Furthermore, the Director General of the WHO is entrusted with a number of tasks to support and monitor the activities introduced by the Member States. Specifically, the DG is asked to support the development of national policies concerning the transparency of healthcare markets, and to convene the Fair Pricing Forum every two years, at which the Member States and all interested parties may take part to examine price accessibility and transparency and the costs of healthcare products.