[Ip-health] UN report highlights lack of access to essential medicines

[Marg Ewen]

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HAI Press Release:   Essential medicines - the high price of health

Halfway to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), essential medicines
are more costly and less available than necessary, especially in
developing countries. This new data on medicines access and pricing is
contained in a report released by the United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon today in New York.


Delivering on the Global Partnership for Achieving the Millennium
Development Goals was prepared by the Millennium Development Goals Gap
Task Force on global partnerships, created by the UN Secretary-General
to track international commitments on aid, trade, debt and to follow
progress on access to essential medicines and technology. MDG Target 8.E
is dedicated to achieving access to affordable essential medicines in
developing countries.

The report found that in the public sector, generic medicines are only
available in 34.9% of facilities, and on average cost 250% more than the
international reference price. In the private sector, those same
medicines are available in 63.2% of facilities, but cost on average
about 650% more than the international reference price.

Prices are so high that people on a low wage have to work any number of
days, or in some cases weeks, to buy treatments. For example, in
Indonesia a low paid unskilled government worker has to work more than 4
days to buy just one salbutamol inhaler (an asthma medicine) in the
private sector. This can lead to spiralling debt or they must go without
treatment.

Ban Ki-moon describes the report as "a wake-up call". Margaret Ewen from
Health Action International (HAI) said "It is not enough to have
effective, safe medicines if they are not affordable and available to
those who needed them. Governments must act to bring prices down and
improve availability or else Target 8.E will be a UN failure."

The report is based on surveys undertaken using a methodology developed
by the World Health Organization (WHO) and HAI. The MDG Gap Task Force
report acknowledges the contribution that the medicine price and
availability surveys have made, and cites policy recommendations based
on the findings of over 50 surveys undertaken to date across the globe
using the WHO/HAI survey tool.

Policy solutions such as passing on low government procurement prices to
patients, eliminating taxes and duties on essential medicines,
encouraging generic substitution and using low cost quality generics
instead of expensive branded products will make all the difference to
the poor.

The WHO/HAI survey methodology has provided a long-awaited means of
setting targets and measuring progress towards Millennium Development
Goal 8.E. It is now time for governments to act by developing,
implementing and enforcing policies and programmes that ensure that all
people, particularly the poor have equitable access to affordable
essential medicines.

To access the MDG Gap Task Force Report, fact sheet, survey data and
more go to HAI's website http://www.haiweb.org/medicineprices/ or WHO's
website http://www.who.int/medicines/mdg/en/index.html
<http://www.who.int/medicines/mdg/en/index.html>

Margaret Ewen
Coordinator, Global Projects (Pricing)
HAI Global
Overtoom 60/III
1054 HK Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 489 1846 (direct), +31 20 683 3684 (office)
Fax: +31 20685 5002
Email: marg@haiweb.org <mailto:marg@haiweb.org>