WHO, WIPO and the WTO to hold 13th Joint Technical Symposium on 25 November 2026

Local and regional production can, under appropriate conditions, contribute to sustainable access to quality-assured, safe, effective, and affordable health technologies, more secure and resilient supply chains, and innovation. Realizing these benefits depends on a broader enabling ecosystem, including effective health regulatory systems, sustainable investment, absorptive capacity, coherent trade and intellectual property (IP) laws and policies, collaboration among relevant stakeholders, and access to regional and global markets. Drawing on their complementary expertise, the three collaborating organizations aim to foster dialogue on the health, IP, and trade policies that can support such enabling ecosystems.

The Symposium will consider:

1.      The conditions needed to build enabling ecosystems for local and regional health products manufacturing, including health systems, IP frameworks, and trade policies.

2.      The demand-side challenges that need to be addressed to make local and regional health products manufacturing commercially viable.

3.      The roles different stakeholders can play in developing and sustaining resilient health ecosystems, including through cooperation, regional integration, partnerships, technology transfer

4.      The lessons that can be drawn from national and regional experiences and initiatives, including the successes and challenges encountered by different stakeholders and how they have been addressed.

5.      The potential and challenges of new technologies, digital health, and artificial intelligence (AI) to contribute to building enabling environments to strengthen innovation and manufacturing capacities for health technologies.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Mr. Daren Tang, and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Directors-General of the WHO, WIPO, and WTO will open the event. This will be followed by a keynote address and three thematic panel discussions. The first panel will focus on strengthening local and regional health innovation and manufacturing through the integration of public health objectives in global, regional and domestic policies; the second panel will discuss how IP frameworks can enable ecosystems for innovation and local and regional manufacturing, including the potential and challenges of AI and digital technologies; and the third panel will explore trade as an enabler of local and regional manufacturing and robust supply chains.

Participation in the Symposium is open to the public. Online registration is open until 23 November 2026 through registering here. The Symposium will be held in person at the Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG), with virtual participation available on request. The Symposium will be held in English only.