Programmatic evaluations

The WHO Rapid Access Expansion Programme supports high-burden countries to increase coverage of diagnostic, treatment and referral services for the major causes of death among children under 5 years of age (diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria) through the scaling up of integrated community case management. The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, impact and sustainability of the results of the Programme in order to inform policy dialogue and future design and implementation of integrated community case management.

The terms of reference of the WHO global coordination mechanism on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases included a preliminary evaluation of the mechanism by the World Health Assembly, to take place in 2017, in order to assess its results and added value. The evaluation report was presented to the Seventy-first Health Assembly in May 2018. 

In 2012, the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA65.19, in which it decided to establish a Member State mechanism aimed at protecting public health and promoting access to affordable, safe, efficacious, and quality medical products, by promoting the prevention and control of substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit (SSFFC) medical products and associated activities. This resolution renewed and re-established a mandate for the Secretariat and Member States in addressing SSFFC medical products from a public health perspective in a transparent and inclusive way. The Member State mechanism is supported by WHO and facilitated by the mechanism secretariat. 

A review of the Member State mechanism was mandated by the above resolution and conducted by the WHO Evaluation Office. A review of the Member State mechanism was mandated by the above resolution and conducted by the WHO Evaluation Office. 

The global strategy on public health, innovation and intellectual property aims to promote new thinking on innovation and access to medicines and, based on the recommendations of the report of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health, provide a medium-term framework for securing an enhanced and sustainable basis for needs-driven essential health research and development relevant to diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries, proposing clear objectives and priorities for research and development, and estimating funding needs in this area. 

The overall purpose of this comprehensive evaluation was to assess the status of implementation of the eight elements of the global strategy and plan of action, its 25 sub-elements and 108 specific actions. It looked at such implementation by all stakeholders listed in the action plan at different levels (global, regional and national), including national governments, the WHO Secretariat and other relevant stakeholders. 

Covering the period 2008–2015, the evaluation documented achievements, gaps and remaining challenges and the evaluators have identified areas for future work and proposed recommendations which the overall programme review, planned for 2017, may wish to consider.