Skip to content
WHO
Agenda: Discussing the Legality of Medical Advertisements Made Directly to Consumers
Chairperson’s Letter:
Dear Delegates,
We are delighted to welcome you to the World Health Organization committee of Schoolhouse MUN 2026! As the chairs of your committee, we are dedicated to making this a space where you can engage in thoughtful, diplomatic discussions and work together to produce meaningful resolutions.
Meet Your Chairs
Claire: I am a college student majoring in Public Health at the University of Alabama Online. I have interned with the World Health Network, where I practiced science communication with a team of scientists, lawyers, and regular people dedicated to improving public health and infection control. I have also interned with the U.S. House of Representatives, gaining invaluable experience in legal research and constituent services.
Three years ago, I was one of you—a Schoolhouse learner excited for her very first Model UN. In this WHO committee, I hope to combine my love of public health with my passion for public speaking to provide you with an engaging and informative experience.
Akshath: I am a junior in high school with a passion for cross country, gardening, and a love for tutoring! Biology and life sciences have always been a great interest of mine as I’ve conducted heart disease presentations to raise awareness and renovated a sensory garden with my local Parks & Recreation Department. I’m looking forward to utilizing this passion of mine to help conduct the WHO committee.
Having been a part of the SHW community for 3 years, serving as a WHO Co-chair is an amazing opportunity to engage with you all. I look forward to having an amazing experience with you at our 5th MUN Conference!
Mattis: I am a homeschooled high school freshman with a passion for creative writing. My other interests range from history and geography to linguistics, art, and computer science. I’m really excited to be one of the WHO committee chairs (this is my first time chairing!), as Model UN has always been a standout of the year for me. I’m excited to see what you all bring to this committee!
Introduction to the Committee and Agenda:
Greetings! Welcome to the World Health Organization, the United Nations’ agency dedicated to global health, well-being, workplace safety, and public health protection. Otherwise known as WHO, it was the first specialized UN agency subscribed to by every member state, and it currently has almost 200 members, all united in our common mission to ensure the highest attainable standard of health for all people, free from harm and misinformation.
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) medical advertising has emerged as a powerful force shaping global healthcare decision-making, patient behavior, and the dynamics of the pharmaceutical and healthcare markets. From prescription medications and over-the-counter drugs to traditional therapies and dietary supplements, these advertisements reach billions of people daily, promising relief, innovation, and healthier lives. On one hand, DTC medical ads can raise awareness of under-recognized conditions, inform patients about cutting-edge treatments, and drive investment in medical research and development, fueling progress that benefits communities worldwide. Yet, on the other, they pose profound risks to public health: misleading patients into unnecessary or inappropriate prescriptions, prioritizing expensive branded drugs over affordable alternatives, and undermining the trust between patients and their healthcare providers.
Today, our committee is dedicated to addressing the complex and deeply intertwined legality, ethics, and practicality of these DTC medical advertisements on a global scale. Our agenda will include navigating the current regulatory environment across nations, most of which have banned DTC advertising for prescription drugs, despite gaps in enforcement, and drafting and completing guidelines that balance commercial speech with the protection of public health. We will grapple with questions at the heart of this matter: Should pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies be allowed to advertise directly to consumers, and under what conditions? How can we regulate DTC advertising for over-the-counter medications, traditional therapies, and supplements (often, they are not subject to strict oversight)? And how do we ensure that ads empower, rather than mislead, patients while supporting fair competition and innovation in the healthcare industry?
To accomplish this immense task, we encourage you to gain a deep understanding of your country’s experience with DTC medical advertising: What are its existing regulations, successes, failures, and unique challenges? At the same time, we expect you to work out coordinated, global solutions that respect nations’ diverse capabilities and priorities. Your resolution should show your grasp of geopolitical dynamics, the role of governments in regulating commercial activity, and the involvement of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), pharmaceutical companies, and healthcare providers in shaping responsible advertising practices. You should also consider the scientific, social, economic, and cultural factors that influence how DTC ads are perceived and consumed, from health literacy levels in different regions to the economic pressures facing both patients and healthcare systems.
Rather than seek merely to ban or prevent DTC medical advertising, we work to find solutions that support innovation in medical research, protect patients from harm, and guarantee that DTC ads serve to educate instead of exploit them. This requires you to carefully balance the interests of industry, patients, and healthcare providers, and acknowledge that one-size-fits-all regulations do not succeed in a world with diverse healthcare systems and cultural norms.
Delegates, we expect you to present guidelines for DTC medical advertising that are refreshingly creative, informative but thoughtful, and readily implementable. Adopt solutions that can adjust to the various abilities and needs of countries (each with their own diverse histories, economic development levels, and health priorities)! Challenge ineffective regulatory models, explore innovative approaches to oversight, and advocate & vote for policies that put public health at the forefront! We look forward to lively WHO debates dedicated to respectful communication, international cooperation, and creative problem-solving that will shape the future of DTC medical advertising and protect the health of people around the world.
The responsibility to strike this balance rests with you. We have great confidence in you, and we strongly believe that you will rise to the occasion, engage with empathy and zeal, and craft solutions that honor our shared commitment to global health.
Mattis L, Akshath K, and Claire A
WHO Chairs
Background Guide
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising represents a shift in medical marketing. Models are moving away from exclusive communication with healthcare professionals towards a model that encourages the public through mass media. There are three distinct forms: product-claim aids, which name a drug and its specific use; reminder ads, which reinforce brand names without medical claims; and help-seeking ads, which educate the public on symptoms without naming the specific product. (1) While proponents argue that these models empower patients to take a more active role in their health, critics assert that it prioritizes pharmaceutical profit over necessity.
Currently, the global legality of the situation is highly polarized: the USA and New Zealand remain the only two nations that permit full product-claim advertising for prescription drugs, while the vast majority of international countries maintain strict prohibitions to protect the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship.
The complexity behind regulating these advertisements is further deepened by the vast categories of treatments available to the public. Prescription medications (Rx) are the most restricted end of the spectrum due to their high potency, risk for side effects, and need for a doctor’s oversight. In contrast, over-the-counter (OTC) medicines are widely accessible and frequently advertised, though they still face criticism regarding the accuracy of their claims. Arguably, the most challenging area is the regulation of Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine (TCIM). As per the WHO, these products are often legally classified as food rather than medicine, allowing manufacturers to bypass extensive clinical trials and advertising standards. (2) This regulatory hole often leads to aggressive marketing in regions with higher health-literacy barriers, where traditional medicines and remedies may be presented as "cures" without significant scientific evidence.
International organizations have since struggled to unify these varying national standards into a united global policy. A primary reference point for this effort is the WHO’s 1988 Ethical Criteria for Medicinal Drug Promotion, a resolution that was designed to ensure that all medical advertising is truthful, balanced, and verified. This framework emphasizes that promotion should never exploit a consumer’s fear or lack of medical literacy. (3) Similarly, another reference point is the EU utilizing Directive 2001/83/EC to enforce a strict ban on prescription drug ads while allowing individual nations to manage OTC marketing. (4) However, these established frameworks were largely drafted before the rise of social media and targeted digital algorithms. Today, the WHO faces the crucial task of updating these guidelines to address a borderless, digital world where an advertisement sanctioned in one state can instantly influence a consumer in another where it is illegal. (5)
The State of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Today
Billions of dollars are spent each year on direct-to-consumer advertisements for prescription and nonprescription drugs. In the United States, one of the countries with the fewest restrictions on direct-to-consumer advertising, pharmaceutical companies invested $6 billion into advertisements for prescription medications in 2016. (6) This number has topped $10 billion in recent years. (7) Advertising of over-the-counter medications and supplements is also a multi-billion dollar industry. Globally, spending on over-the-counter medical advertisements is over $20 billion a year. (8)
Medical ad campaigns depend heavily on newspapers and television advertisements. (9) Among advertising sectors, the pharmaceutical industry is unusually dependent upon traditional media. (10) However, social media presents new avenues for pharmaceutical advertising. Undisclosed promotion is extremely common in high-engagement posts urging viewers to explore prescription drugs. (11) These sneakier forms of medical advertising pose complex enforcement challenges for drug advertisement regulations.
Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Across the Globe
The Americas
The United States, unlike nearly every nation in the world, allows pharmaceutical companies to publicly advertise prescription medical products to patients and to include claims about these products’ purpose and effectiveness. The average American spends 16 hours each year watching direct-to-consumer medical advertisements. (12) Since 1997, pharmaceutical companies have been allowed to list a phone number or website instead of actively listing possible drug hazards in broadcast ads; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in September that rule is being reversed. (13)
In Canada, DTC advertisements for prescription drugs that make product claims are outlawed. While they may be technically illegal, help-seeking advertisements sponsored by pharmaceutical companies and reminder advertisements mentioning prescription drugs without product claims are permitted in Canada, raising enforcement questions around these distinctions. (14)
The Latin American region generally allows advertising of over-the-counter formulations only. (15) However, news coverage of new treatments is often propagandized in this region, which may lead to similar influences on consumers as explicit marketing. (15)
East Asia
East Asian governments have instituted varying levels of permissiveness around over-the-counter drug advertisements while consistently banning prescription drug advertisements. In Hong Kong, no advertisements of prescription or over-the-counter drugs are permitted. (16) In China, advertisements for over-the-counter drugs require governmental preclearance. (17) In Singapore, over-the-counter drugs ads are permitted as long as they do not include untrue claims or encourage self-medication for serious illness or overuse of the product (18).
West and Central Asia
As in East Asia, nations in West and Central Asia vary in their treatment of non-prescription drug advertisements while banning ads for prescription drugs. Türkiye bans all DTC advertisements for prescription and over-the-counter drugs. (19) Afghanistan has recently developed regulations for medical advertisements, banning public advertisements of prescription drugs and requiring cultural propriety, governmental preclearance, and scientific and ethical integrity in advertisements for over-the-counter formulations. (20) Similarly, the United Arab Emirates prohibit public marketing of prescription drugs and require governmental permission for non-prescription drug advertisements. (21)
South Asia
While many South Asian nations have banned direct-to-consumer advertisements of prescription drugs, medical advertisements exert a major influence. In India, pharmaceutical companies are prohibited from advertising prescription drugs; however, drug dispensers such as pharmacies are allowed to market their wares. (22) Social media and e-commerce sites are amplifying opportunities for such advertisements. (22) India is also a major target of over-the-counter drug advertisements, which are legal. (23) Despite regulations, over ten thousand misleading pharmaceutical advertisements are identified each year in India. (24)
Pakistan has recently banned all advertisements of prescription, non-prescription, alternative, or integrative medicines without governmental preclearance and instituted regulations of the language to be used in such advertisements. (25)
In Sri Lanka, prescription drug advertisements are illegal, but over-the-counter drugs can be advertised. In a notable incident in the year 2000, an obesity awareness advertisement cosponsored by a pharmaceutical company included a company phone number that dispensed information focused on the company’s obesity drug, urging callers to speak to their physicians about it. (26) This situation highlights potential loopholes and failures of enforcement surrounding direct-to-consumer advertisements.
Europe
The European Union prohibits public advertisement of prescription drugs, excepting governmentally permitted vaccine advertisements. (4) Non-prescription drugs may be advertised, but individual nations may choose to ban advertisements for formulations reimbursed by their national health systems. (4) The language of these advertisements is subject to further regulations. (4) Member states vary in the precise implementation of these regulations, including how they impact patient advocacy groups. (27) Member states also have freedom as to whether they require preclearance of advertisements or conduct enforcement once advertisements are being broadcast. (4)
Regulations are similar in the United Kingdom, which prohibits advertisement of prescription drugs but allows over-the-counter drug advertisements with governmental preclearance. (28)
Over-the-counter drug advertising has a large impact in Eastern European countries. Russia is a leading driver of the global increase in over-the-counter drug ad spending. (8) In Ukraine, where over-the-counter drugs make up two-thirds of drug sales, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on over-the-counter drug advertising, which influences the treatment choices of a sizable proportion of Ukraine’s population. (29)
Africa
Given that falsified and substandard drugs carry a major burden of death and disease in Africa, regulating advertisement of medications is especially necessary on this continent. (30) The newly created African Medicines Agency presents a unique opportunity to streamline drug regulations and approvals and target fake medicines. (31)
African countries, like many countries elsewhere, generally prohibit prescription drug advertisements while having lax regulations of over-the-counter drugs. In South Africa, for example, direct-to-consumer advertisements of prescription drugs are illegal, excepting advertisements of price, size, and strength of packages (the sort of information that helps people pick which pharmacist or chemist to buy from). (32) Non-prescription drugs may be advertised.
Oceania
In Australia, direct-to-consumer advertisements of prescription drugs are illegal, but hundreds of millions of dollars are poured into over-the-counter drug advertisements each year, and this number is rising sharply as manufacturers shift toward online sales. (8)
New Zealand allows pharmaceutical companies to advertise prescription medications with public product claims. These advertisements have become common since their introduction in the 1990s. (33) Tens of millions of dollars are invested into pharmaceutical ads for prescription drugs in New Zealand each year. (34) One controversial impact of these advertisements is demand for name-brand drugs, including drugs that are not covered by New Zealand’s system of socialized medicine, leading to increased costs for individuals and the government. DTC advertisements are also legal in island territories of the United States, where poor access to regular medical care can lead to outsized influence for advertisements. (35)
References and Resources
Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.
This is not the way.
Try clicking the ··· in the right corner or using a keyboard shortcut (
CtrlP
) instead.