The “failure” of access to drugs

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An MSF report accuses the pharmaceutical industry model does not meet the needs of global public health

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The current model run by the pharmaceutical industry has “failed” and “does not meet the needs of global public health.” Such is the conclusion of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF by its acronym in French) in its report Lives on the Edge made public today on occasion of the UN General Assembly held these days in New York (USA). MSF demands the international organization to promote a new R&D model for the pharmaceutical sector aimed to protecting public health and allowing the development of drugs at affordable prices. To such end, the 193 member States must “take control and get involved in the development of drugs, vaccines and diagnostics,” according to the NGO.

“People who live both in poor and wealthy countries are finding that the medicines they need do not exist, or that they are so expensive that they cannot afford them,” remarked Katy Athersuch, Medical Access Policy and Innovation advisor for MSF Campaign for Access to Life-saving Medicines.

In its report, MSF asserts that one of the most urgent measures countries should be focusing on is the implementation of a joint action against antibiotic resistance.

It also accuses the pharmaceutical industry of failing to invest enough in diseases that are not profitable, as well as the States for not ensuring that the taxpayer money is allocated to research addressing priority health needs.

People who live both in poor and wealthy countries are finding that the medicines they need do not exist, or that they are so expensive that they cannot afford them.

“Examples of this failure are the lack of diagnostic tools, vaccines and drugs for Ebola, and the spread of drug-resistant infections: Both cases show that the sector is more focused on financial results and dividends for their shareholders than in solving the most pressing medical problems,” MSF highlighted.

Also mentioned is the case of tuberculosis, for which only two new drugs have been developed in the last half century, despite the fact that “it takes the lives of 1.5 million people yearly,” according to Jennifer Hughes, MSF specialist in South Africa. “They are not interested making better treatments because they are not profitable enough,” she slammed.

Despite this situation, the organization welcomes the fact that some countries have “began to notice” the appearance of “vital medicines at exorbitant prices,” as has happened with the hepatitis C, where a tablet is reported to cost, in some cases, up to $1,000.

It also calls for “breaking the bond between medical research and protections based on market monopolies” that leads to the high prices for pharmaceutical products. As an example of how to renovate R&D strategies, MSF has cited The 3P Project , implemented in cooperation with other organizations fighting tuberculosis in order to join forces in the research for new treatment regimes.

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