Access to essential medications: a social, economic, medical and ethical problem
Section: TEACHING TO LEARN
Authors
1Charo Villar Redondo, 2Nora Uranga Celaya
Position
1Enfermera en el Complejo Hospital Universitario de Santiago de Compostela. Voluntaria de la Campaña para el Acceso a Medicamentos Esenciales de MSF en Santiago de Compostela.2Coordinadora de la Campaña para el Acceso a Medicamentos Esenciales de MSF.
Contact email: charojob@yahoo.es
Abstract
According to data from the WHO, transmittable diseases kill over 17 million people every year, 90% of which live in poor countries. It is clear then that the availability of drugs determines the fate of such a high number of human beings. There are several factors that contribute to the lack of essential drugs: 1) Globalisation and market unbalances: The world commerce system treats drugs in the same manner as it treats the rest of products; on the other hand, the particularities of negotiation amongst pharmaceutical companies, the governments and the local industries, favour the appearance of huge differences in the price of drugs between one country and another, thus accentuating this unevenness in the access to drugs. 2) Orphan drugs: many of the drugs used in the treatment of tropical diseases are no longer manufactured because they are not economically feasible because of a problem of economic profitability. 3) Insufficient research and development: the majority of drugs available for the treatment of tropical diseases is very old, not very effective and not without toxicity. Of the drugs synthesised and marketed over the last 20 years, only 1% was destined specifically to fight tropical diseases.
The international campaign undertaken by Medicos Sin Fronteras (MSF) for access to essential medications (CAME) is three-fold: to promote healthcare exceptions in international commerce agreements, to overcome the obstacles to make the drugs available and to stimulate research and development in forgotten diseases.
The international campaign undertaken by Medicos Sin Fronteras (MSF) for access to essential medications (CAME) is three-fold: to promote healthcare exceptions in international commerce agreements, to overcome the obstacles to make the drugs available and to stimulate research and development in forgotten diseases.
Keywords:
essential drugs; Médicos Sin Fronteras (MSF); transmittable diseasespoor countries
Versión en Español
Título:
Acceso a medicamentos esenciales: un problema social, económico, médico y ético
