Pricing of drugs and donations: options for sustainable equity pricing.
Effective medicines exist to treat or alleviate many diseases which predominate in the developing world and cause high mortality and morbidity rates. Price should not be an obstacle preventing access to these medicines. Increasingly, drug donations have been established by drug companies, but these are often limited in time, place or use. Measures exist which are more sustainable and will have a greater positive impact on people's health. Principally, these are encouraging generic competition; adopting into national legislation and implementing TRIPS safeguards to gain access to cheaper sources of drugs; differential pricing; creating high volume or high demand through global and regional procurement; and supporting the production of quality generic drugs by developing countries through voluntary licenses if needed, and facilitating technology transfer.
Pérez-Casas
C
C
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, Médecins sans Frontières, Geneva, Switzerland. carmen_perez@madrid.msf.org
Herranz
E
E
Ford
N
N
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000639:trends*; D004345:Drug Industry; D016568:Drugs, Generic / Q000191:economics; D014943:Global Health; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics*; D016919:Meningitis, Cryptococcal / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics*; D014141:Trachoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D016568:Drugs, Generic