E-drug: G8 window dresses while poor die
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Here is the MSF statement on the global fund we issued today in
Genoa.
G8 WINDOW DRESSES WHILE POOR DIE FROM LACK OF
MEDICINES
Genoa, 21 July 2001
The G8 governments and the UN Secretary-General announced the
constitution of a global health fund designed to tackle infectious
diseases in developing countries.
More money and new money are needed in the fight against
diseases of the poor, but the amount committed is nowhere near
what is required. Pledges to the fund, currently at $1.2 billion, are
shamefully low. Governments call upon multinationals and the
private sector to contribute. Among these are the pharmaceutical
companies whose pricing policies are a fundamental part of the
problem.
The G8 governments have been preparing a global health fund for a
year. In that time, 14 million people will have died from infectious
and parasitic disease; 90% of these deaths will have occurred in
developing countries.
There are serious organisational concerns with the fund: there is
still no clear statement regarding who makes the decisions, on what
the funds are to be spent, and no policy to ensure that the fund will
be used to purchase medicines at the lowest possible cost, says
Ellen �t Hoen from the medical aid organisation M�decins Sans
Fronti�res. "Without these basic commitments, it will be a long time
before the fund contributes to saving lives. In its current state, it is
little more than window dressing.
The crisis of lack of access to essential medicines faced by
developing countries is much greater than can be solved by a global
fund. A fundamental change in the medicines market is needed,
embracing multiple strategies that will lead to equitable drug prices.
Such strategies should include:
- a flexible interpretation of the WTO agreements on intellectual
property to ensure that pharmaceutical patents do not stand in
the way of producing and purchasing affordable medicines;
- the promotion of the production and use of generic medicines;
- a tiered pricing system to ensure that medicines in developing
countries are affordable;
- public investment in research and development for neglected
diseases.
"The richest countries of the world refuse to address more
fundamental solutions to the access to medicines crisis," says Ellen
�t Hoen. "The current fund makes the richest countries look good,
but will have very little impact on the lives and health of people."
MSF in Genoa: Ellen �t Hoen on 0033 6 22 375 871; Nicoletta
Dentico 0039 335 54 84 237.
Website: www.accessmed-msf.org
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