710.   The World Health Organization carefully reviewed the communication from South Africa contained in document IP/C/W/659 on Intellectual Property and The Public Interest: R&D Costs and Pricing of Medicines and Health Technologies, and in order to contribute to the debate of the TRIPS Council in relation to this topic we would like to share recent related information and activities from WHO. 711.   During the last World Health Assembly in May 2019, WHO members, "Seriously concerned about high prices for some health products, and inequitable access to such products within and among Members, as well as the financial hardship associated with high prices which impede progress towards achieving universal health coverage", approved the so-called "Transparency Resolution", WHA72.8, co-sponsored jointly by more than 20 developed and developing countries (including South Africa), on improving the transparency of markets for medicines, vaccines, and other health products. The Resolution recognizes "that the type of information publicly available on data across the value chain of health products, including prices effectively paid by different actors and costs, vary among Members and that the availability of comparable price information may facilitate efforts towards affordable equitable access to health products". The Transparency Resolution urges members, inter alia, to share information on net prices of health products as well as on costs from human subject clinical trials; to facilitate improved public reporting of patent status information and the marketing approval status of health products; and to improve national capacities, including through international cooperation and open and collaborative R&D and production of health products in particular in LMICs. 712.   The WHO Secretariat will continue to support members in collecting and analysing information on economic data across the value chain for health products and data for policy development towards achieving universal health coverage and SDGs. We will continue supporting efforts to determine the patent status of health products and promote publicly available user-friendly patent status databases for public health actors and procurement agencies. In the context of WHO's work on the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property, the current week we launched a questionnaire addressed to members, which requires an intersectoral response, in particular from national public health authorities and patent offices, to collect information to facilitate implementation of the prioritized recommendations included in the global strategy. In order to provide information on and an opportunity to ask questions and/or request further clarifications on the completion of the questionnaire, the WHO Secretariat is inviting member State missions covering health and intellectual property to an information session at WHO headquarters on Tuesday, 12 November 2019.