The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the WTO will hold the 11th Trilateral Technical Symposium on "Strengthening Manufacturing Capacities to Respond to the Non-Communicable Diseases Burden" on 13 December 2024 at the WTO. The deadline for registration is 9 December.

Taken together, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, account for 74% of all deaths globally, killing 41 million people each year, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. The health and economic impact of NCDs is therefore substantial. Without increased investment, policy reform and attention to the structural and systemic drivers of ill health, this burden will continue to grow.

Against this background, the objective of the Symposium is to explore the extent to which strengthened manufacturing capacity and its diversification through local and regional initiatives and coordination of efforts can promote innovation and enhance access to health technologies for the prevention, detection and treatment of NCDs.

The event will be opened by the Directors-General of WHO, WIPO and the WTO.

The keynote address will be delivered by Dr Jeremy Farrar, WHO's Chief Scientist, who will provide an overview of the growing disease burden caused by NCDs and how diversifying manufacturing capacities can support an urgently needed global response.

Three panel discussions will follow, addressing the latest developments and strategies to reduce the global NCD burden; highlighting challenges and opportunities in enhancing manufacturing capacities and coordinating those efforts, including the role of trade and intellectual property (IP) in this process; and discussing the role of innovation and the contribution of local and regional manufacturing to optimizing the global response to the NCD disease burden.

More details are available in the preliminary programme [PDF].

The Symposium will be held at the WTO in Geneva, Room W, on 13 December 2024 from 10.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. (CET). Participation is open to the public. Please register online by 9 December 2024. The Symposium will be held in English only, and it will be livestreamed on YouTube.

Background

The Symposium is the eleventh in the series of joint technical symposia on public health, IP and trade convened by WHO, WIPO and the WTO. It builds on the collaborative work undertaken by the three agencies to enhance members’ capacity to deal with issues at the crossroads between health, IP and trade, as exemplified by the second edition of the Trilateral Study Promoting Access to Medical Technologies and innovation.