Barriers To Access To Essential Medicines Case Study
3.4.1 A fundamental right
Access to medicines is an ethical issue because it is a basic right to preserve one's life. Indeed, access to medicines is a public health issue, involving the principles of equality and social justice. Endorsed by the WHO Constitution in 1946, "the possession of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of the human being". The United Nations also recognizes it as a universal right under the 1976 International Convention on Economic, Thus WHO has defines primary health care as “health care essential, scientifically sound and socially acceptable, universally accessible to all individuals ...”.88Social and Cultural Rights.
Primary health care includes “vaccination against major infectious …show more content…
Access to essential medicines is therefore a right recognized as universal by the international community. But between what must be and what is, there is an immeasurable gap here, partly linked to the functioning of the pharmaceutical market.
3.4.2 Economic barriers to access to essential medicines
Two major obstacles stand in the way of the equitable distribution of essential medicines: the problem of availability of medicines and their accessibility.93
• The availability of medicines is directly linked to public or private investment in research and development. But the existence of needs does not predetermine the existence of a market.
Private laboratories have no immediate economic interest in investing in therapies for poor nations. The data are so conclusive: of the more than 1393 new drugs marketed between 1975 and 1999, only 13 target tropical diseases94.Here it is known as neglected diseases …show more content…
To explain this, it must first be emphasized that pharmaceutical companies naturally tend to limit the risks inherent in the research and development process. The average cost of R & D of a drug is estimated at $ 802 million in 2000, a cost multiplied by six since 1975.97 It takes about ten years between discovering a molecule and putting it on the market. Since patents are generally granted for a period of 20 years, only 10 years remain for commercial exploitation of the product. Out of 10,000 components subject to a research protocol, only five will reach the stage of clinical studies and only one will be granted marketing authorization
Access to medicines is an ethical issue because it is a basic right to preserve one's life. Indeed, access to medicines is a public health issue, involving the principles of equality and social justice. Endorsed by the WHO Constitution in 1946, "the possession of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of the human being". The United Nations also recognizes it as a universal right under the 1976 International Convention on Economic, Thus WHO has defines primary health care as “health care essential, scientifically sound and socially acceptable, universally accessible to all individuals ...”.88Social and Cultural Rights.
Primary health care includes “vaccination against major infectious …show more content…
Access to essential medicines is therefore a right recognized as universal by the international community. But between what must be and what is, there is an immeasurable gap here, partly linked to the functioning of the pharmaceutical market.
3.4.2 Economic barriers to access to essential medicines
Two major obstacles stand in the way of the equitable distribution of essential medicines: the problem of availability of medicines and their accessibility.93
• The availability of medicines is directly linked to public or private investment in research and development. But the existence of needs does not predetermine the existence of a market.
Private laboratories have no immediate economic interest in investing in therapies for poor nations. The data are so conclusive: of the more than 1393 new drugs marketed between 1975 and 1999, only 13 target tropical diseases94.Here it is known as neglected diseases …show more content…
To explain this, it must first be emphasized that pharmaceutical companies naturally tend to limit the risks inherent in the research and development process. The average cost of R & D of a drug is estimated at $ 802 million in 2000, a cost multiplied by six since 1975.97 It takes about ten years between discovering a molecule and putting it on the market. Since patents are generally granted for a period of 20 years, only 10 years remain for commercial exploitation of the product. Out of 10,000 components subject to a research protocol, only five will reach the stage of clinical studies and only one will be granted marketing authorization