The World Health Organization and the Pharmaceutical Industry. Common areas of interest and differing views.
No article published in the scientific press in the last 10 years reviews the various areas of interest common to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the pharmaceutical industry. Despite a vast amount of information in the public domain, the policies expound the views only of the bodies they represent rather than comparing differing views. An understanding of the factors which affect the interaction between these organisations as well as the organisational structures and the actual areas of intersecting interest, may help to find ways for the industry to assist the WHO in its endeavours in developing countries. Modern drug development is performed initially in and for western society, leaving the areas of infectious or tropical diseases with relatively less industry investment than cancer and cardiovascular disorders. Aspects of the development of an ethical drug, regardless of its therapeutic class (selection of drug name, intellectual property rights, drug safety, marketing and pricing, quality assurance and counterfeiting, generic use, emerging drug donations) are influenced to varying degrees by the triad of money, politics and medical need and the perspectives (each defensible) placed thereon by the WHO and industry. Instead of simply defending their positions combining the best of these strategies to optimise drug development for the needs of developing countries appears logical. Similarly, via its philanthropic initiatives, industry will have donated over $US1 billion in drug and research aid in the period 1995 to 2005. These charitable projects should yield useful information for planning and organising future aid efforts. Global warming, only recently given serious governmental consideration, is an area not yet addressed in drug development policy although along with geographical effects, it is likely to have an impact on the epidemiology of diseases e.g. malaria returning to the Mediterranean, worldwide. With changing disease patterns (and particularly if the western world is affected directly), a shift in emphasis on future medical needs and drug development can be anticipated. Furthermore, given the increased modern interest in herbal medicines and the fact that poorer countries rely heavily on traditional medicines, archiving of botanicals under threat would preserve plants for future medicinal testing or use. Coupled with the environmental and poverty issues that the WHO already attempts to address in developing countries, it is timely for both bodies to work towards certain agreed mutual aims. To work effectively, it is realistic that both bodies must benefit and also make concessions in this interactive process.
carohardwicke@postmaster.co.uk
Caroline J
CJ
Hardwicke
D003906:Developing Countries; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends*; D005653:Fund Raising; D006801:Humans; D014944:World Health Organization