sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
".....Despite recent advancements in prevention and treatment in many regions of the world,
diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria continue to scourge the poorest
and most vulnerable of the global population. The vast majority of those suffering from
these diseases live in developing countries, where low wages, high pharmaceutical prices
and poor access to medical services means there is limited, if any, access to many of the
life-saving drugs currently available in industrialised countries.
In fact, about one-third of the world’s population does not have access to essential medicines. Currently, 80 percent
of the world’s population lives in developing countries, but consumes less than 20 percent of all pharmaceuticals.
The problem of access to essential medications for the developing world is two-fold. First,
research and development (R&D) is principally being driven by market forces, not medical
need, when considered in light of estimates of the global burden of disease. Specifically,
problems typically inherent to the industrialised world (e.g. impotence, obesity and
baldness) are being prioritized over diseases that disproportionately affect the poor, such
as TB and malaria. Indeed, 90 percent of the burden for global disease is carried by a
population for whom only three percent of the R&D expenditure is directed. Of the 1,223
new chemical entities developed between 1975 and 1996, only 11 were for the treatment
of tropical diseases. Increasingly, many large pharmaceutical corporations are not even
doing much of in-house R&D, but simply doing venture capital searches for small biotechs
to acquire.
Second, high prices for brand name and patented pharmaceuticals often create a barrier
to access in developing countries. Patent monopoly protection of new drugs allows the
inventing company sufficient time to recoup their controversially-estimated R&D costs.
Sponsors, however, often seek extra patent reward for innovation via a number of existing
‘loopholes’. For example, companies often use bilateral trade agreements to eliminate
reference pricing that bases the price of a new drug on pharmacoeconomic evidence,
such as its efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness relative to comparable existing
therapies. Such tactics make patented medications prohibitively expensive for people
living in poorer countries. As a result, international trade agreements have become an
exceedingly important issue for access to essential medicines and health services.
Several multilateral agreements established by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the
central body governing international trade, impact public health. Of these agreements,
‘Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights’ (TRIPS) most significantly influences
trade policy in the pharmaceutical sector and global access to essential medicines. One
broader concern of the TRIPS agreement is that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has only
non-voting observer status on the principal WTO policy organ and most key WTO documents
make no reference to international economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to
health in article 12 of the ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights)..."
diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria continue to scourge the poorest
and most vulnerable of the global population. The vast majority of those suffering from
these diseases live in developing countries, where low wages, high pharmaceutical prices
and poor access to medical services means there is limited, if any, access to many of the
life-saving drugs currently available in industrialised countries.
In fact, about one-third of the world’s population does not have access to essential medicines. Currently, 80 percent
of the world’s population lives in developing countries, but consumes less than 20 percent of all pharmaceuticals.
The problem of access to essential medications for the developing world is two-fold. First,
research and development (R&D) is principally being driven by market forces, not medical
need, when considered in light of estimates of the global burden of disease. Specifically,
problems typically inherent to the industrialised world (e.g. impotence, obesity and
baldness) are being prioritized over diseases that disproportionately affect the poor, such
as TB and malaria. Indeed, 90 percent of the burden for global disease is carried by a
population for whom only three percent of the R&D expenditure is directed. Of the 1,223
new chemical entities developed between 1975 and 1996, only 11 were for the treatment
of tropical diseases. Increasingly, many large pharmaceutical corporations are not even
doing much of in-house R&D, but simply doing venture capital searches for small biotechs
to acquire.
Second, high prices for brand name and patented pharmaceuticals often create a barrier
to access in developing countries. Patent monopoly protection of new drugs allows the
inventing company sufficient time to recoup their controversially-estimated R&D costs.
Sponsors, however, often seek extra patent reward for innovation via a number of existing
‘loopholes’. For example, companies often use bilateral trade agreements to eliminate
reference pricing that bases the price of a new drug on pharmacoeconomic evidence,
such as its efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness relative to comparable existing
therapies. Such tactics make patented medications prohibitively expensive for people
living in poorer countries. As a result, international trade agreements have become an
exceedingly important issue for access to essential medicines and health services.
Several multilateral agreements established by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the
central body governing international trade, impact public health. Of these agreements,
‘Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights’ (TRIPS) most significantly influences
trade policy in the pharmaceutical sector and global access to essential medicines. One
broader concern of the TRIPS agreement is that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has only
non-voting observer status on the principal WTO policy organ and most key WTO documents
make no reference to international economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to
health in article 12 of the ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights)..."