Transparency is important for good governance and evidence-informed policy-making for access to medicines.

Based on a document review and validation of findings by national authorities, this report examines whether the public authorities, and in some cases, the public in Member States in the WHO European Region can access information about medicine prices, R&D costs and results, volumes, patent status and marketing authorization status, as outlined in World Health Assembly resolution WHA72.8 of 2019 on improving the transparency of markets for medicines, vaccines, and other health products.

Across the 48 countries studied, high transparency exists for marketing authorization status and, in several countries, for list prices and volume data. Transparency was low for net prices, input costs, patent expiry dates and clinical trial results and costs. Measures to improve transparency in these areas were also identified. Price regulation, capacity-building and collaboration between public authorities were identified as key to improving transparency, and thus to informing decision-making to ensure sustainable access to medicines.