[Pharm-policy] MSF Statement on G8

[James Love]

Subject: G8 window dresses while poor die
   Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 13:54:56 +0000
   From: "Ellen 't Hoen" <ethoen@hotmail.com>
     To:  e-drug@usa.healthnet.org

Here is the MSF statement on the global fund we issued today in Genoa.
Ellen 't Hoen  ethoen@hotmail.com
 
>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 Médecins Sans Frontières. “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 
> 
> 

7
-- 
James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
http://www.cptech.org
1.202.380.3080 fax 1.202.234.5176
mailto:love@cptech.org