Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) Secretariat

Health Partners International (HPI) is the lead agency for the consortium which is managing the International Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) Secretariat. It is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) in the UK, and aims to improve access to essential medicines for poor people.

The pilot of the Medicines Transparency Alliance will complete on the 30th September 2010, as planned. In the two years since the pilot was launched, the Medicines Transparency Alliance has worked with the seven pilot countries to introduce more transparency and accountability into the medicines supply chain and significant structures, systems and tools have been put in place, which may now allow countries to pursue this goal independently. 

Over the summer, DFID’s new Ministers will be considering if and how DFID might support MeTA in the future. They will take into consideration the evaluation, lessons learned so far and the outcomes that emerge from the Global MeTA Forum.


HPI works in collaboration with Health Research for Action (HERA).

  • HPI is leading on the overall management of MeTA, including financial systems, communication, knowledge sharing and capacity strengthening, particularly of civil society groups and government institutions.
  • HERA is providing technical direction and country support.

Core aims and principles

  • MeTA is a global initiative to increase access to essential medicines by improving transparency and accountability in the selection, procurement, sale, distribution and use of essential medicines in developing countries. It uses a multi-stakeholder approach, involving government, pharmaceutical industry, civil society and international development partners.
  • It is particularly focused on putting information on the price, availability and quality of medicines into the public domain and using that information to identify blockages and agree solutions.
  • It operates with a set of core principles around the right to health and the need to improve transparency and accountability as a means of increasing access to essential medicines.
  • Medicines Transparency Alliance works in seven pilot countries: Jordan, Kyrgzstan, Ghana, the Philippines, Peru, Uganda, and Zambia. Other countries may be added as the programme develops.


Please download the Foreward and the Summary of the Independent Evaluation of the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) found in the links box on the left. If you would like to receive a copy of the entire evaluation, please email the Secretariat to request a copy using the address below.
Contact the International MeTA Secretariat
112 Malling Street
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 2RJ
United Kingdom

Email: admin@metasecretariat.org

Tel: +44 (0)1273 486 861
Fax: +44 (0)1273 478 485