E-drug: Essential drugs etc. (cont'd)
---------------------------------------------
Dear Leo,
4 to 5 really innovative drugs per year during 20 years means
altogether 80 to 100 drugs. How could you minimise this figure? Even
if all are not to be used in every village center, does it mean that they
are not essential? I am afraid your statement is to global. Yes, some
very essential drugs are patented. Azithromycin is the best treatment
for trachoma (600 million people at risk, 6 millions blind, etc.). You
may see in a WHO document that this drug is not in the WHO list
because of its high price... Azithromycin, which is sold at a high price
by Pfizer but has been discovered by a Croation factory, Pliva, is then
a perfect candidate for a compulsory license. This is only one
example. Your question about compulsory is indeed naive. A lot of
people are working on it. I am sure you will find a lot of information
on e-drug on this topic.
Best regards,
Pierre Chirac
MSF Paris
pierchir@club-internet.fr
--
Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.