{"entity":{"id":"idea-cost-pooled-procurement-essential","kind":"idea","name":"Pool purchasing of essential cancer medicines across countries","aka":[],"tldr":"Small countries pay more for the same generic chemotherapy because they buy alone; the PAHO Strategic Fund and the WHO essential medicines list show that buying together brings prices down and keeps supply steady.","summary":"The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (24th list, 2025) includes a core set of cancer medicines. The PAHO Strategic Fund is a regional pooled-procurement mechanism for essential medicines that member states can use; the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines (WHO and St. Jude) applies the model to paediatric oncology. Extending pooled procurement to the adult essential-medicines set (platinums, taxanes, anthracyclines, imatinib, tamoxifen, letrozole, trastuzumab biosimilars) would give middle-income countries the prices large buyers get and reduce shortages.","asOf":"2026-09-10","links":[{"label":"WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines","url":"https://www.who.int/groups/expert-committee-on-selection-and-use-of-essential-medicines/essential-medicines-lists"},{"label":"PAHO Strategic Fund","url":"https://www.paho.org/en/paho-strategic-fund"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["imatinib","tamoxifen","letrozole","cisplatin","paclitaxel"],"companies":[],"institutions":["who","st-jude"],"pathways":[],"terms":["who-essential-medicines"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-global-access","b-drug-pricing"],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"hypothesis":"Pooled regional procurement of the WHO essential cancer medicines will reduce unit prices for participating countries by more than a quarter and cut stock-outs by half within three years.","rationale":"Pooled procurement has worked for vaccines, antiretrovirals and tuberculosis drugs; cancer generics have the same economics.","test":"PAHO or a regional body publishes prices paid and stock-out data for participating versus non-participating countries.","maturity":"being-tested-at-scale","actor":"policy","cost":"medium","horizonYears":3},"route":"/ideas/idea-cost-pooled-procurement-essential/","neighbours":{"drug":[{"id":"cisplatin","kind":"drug","name":"Cisplatin","route":"/drugs/cisplatin/"},{"id":"imatinib","kind":"drug","name":"Imatinib","route":"/drugs/imatinib/"},{"id":"letrozole","kind":"drug","name":"Letrozole (and other aromatase inhibitors)","route":"/drugs/letrozole/"},{"id":"paclitaxel","kind":"drug","name":"Paclitaxel / nab-paclitaxel","route":"/drugs/paclitaxel/"},{"id":"tamoxifen","kind":"drug","name":"Tamoxifen","route":"/drugs/tamoxifen/"}],"institution":[{"id":"st-jude","kind":"institution","name":"St. Jude Children's Research Hospital","route":"/institutions/st-jude/"},{"id":"who","kind":"institution","name":"World Health Organization Cancer Programme","route":"/institutions/who/"}],"term":[{"id":"who-essential-medicines","kind":"term","name":"WHO Essential Medicines List for cancer","route":"/terms/who-essential-medicines/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-global-access","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Most of the world has almost no cancer care","route":"/bottlenecks/b-global-access/"},{"id":"b-drug-pricing","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Prices and value","route":"/bottlenecks/b-drug-pricing/"}]}}