The Medicines, Diagnostics, Infrastructure and other Technologies team provides technical support to Member States to improve availability of, and access to, life-saving essential medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and other health technologies. WHO operates within a context of weakness in health system governance, inadequate health care infrastructure and weak supply chains.

Medicines are a driver of out-of-pocket payments, yet access to medicines remains a critical challenge in Africa, leading to preventable suffering and poor health outcomes. This has exacerbated wider health and socioeconomic disparities and hindered progress towards achieving universal health coverage (UHC).

Inconsistent integration of traditional medicines, blood products, medical devices, oxygen and other health products into national health policies results in siloed approaches, aggravated by limited local and regional production of medicines and health products.