[Ip-health] IFPMA release on neglected diseases

[Mike Palmedo]

http://www.ifpma.org/News/NewsReleaseDetail.aspx?nID=3D235

Neglected Diseases and the Pharmaceutical Industry
IFPMA

Geneva, 12/10/2003 - The International Federation of Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA) is launching a new publication
entitled =93Neglected Diseases and the Pharmaceutical Industry=94.

[ http://www.ifpma.org/Documents/NR235/Brochure_Neglected%20Diseases.pdf ]

The issue of neglected diseases has recently been in the focus of
numerous organisations and institutions active in public health. IFPMA,
representing the research-based pharmaceutical industry =96 an important
stakeholder in public health, is releasing a new brochure entitled
=93Neglected Diseases and the Pharmaceutical Industry=94 to provide its
contribution to this lively debate.

Current debates tend to describe as neglected quite an important number
of diseases prevalent in developing countries. A great majority of these
diseases however, can be effectively prevented and treated with existing
medicines and vaccines, and the ongoing R&D efforts within the
pharmaceutical industry offer hope for even better drugs in the future.
Thus, it seems that =93neglected diseases=94 need more precise definition.

The pharmaceutical industry has a long-standing tradition of involvement
in initiatives targeting health problems of the worlds=92 poorest
populations. Various companies, in collaboration with partners from
international organisations, national governments, and local
communities, have established comprehensive programmes of prevention and
control of diseases prevalent exclusively in developing countries.

Donating life-saving medicines and organising comprehensive systems of
disease control in resource-poor settings, the pharmaceutical industry
contributes to health improvements among poor populations, and actually
leads to eradication of many otherwise =93neglected=94 diseases.

This new IFPMA brochure is an attempt to contribute to the debate over
neglected diseases by both defining the diseases in question more
narrowly and presenting different roles the pharmaceutical companies
play in finding viable solutions to this complex health problem.

For further information please contact: Mr. Maciej Gajewski, Research
Analyst, E-mail: m.gajewski@ifpma.org. Tel: +41 22 338 32 09.