The Global Politics of Access to Medicines

2019 ◽  
pp. 603-626
Author(s):  
Suerie Moon ◽  
Ellen 't Hoen
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Generic Drugs ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
High Drug ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Drug Prices ◽  
Medicine Prices ◽  
All Diseases

Access to medicines has been a fierce battleground in global health, with the most polarising debates focused on medicine prices and the role of patent monopolies. The way ‘access to medicines’ has been framed has evolved considerably since the 1970s, when the focus was primarily on rational use of generic drugs widely available in developing countries. In the 1990s the advent of the WTO TRIPS Agreement clashed directly with a growing global HIV crisis; the politics of ‘access to medicines 1.0’ that emerged centred squarely on antiretrovirals for HIV/AIDS and intellectual property rules. Subsequently, significant ideational and political shifts have resulted in an ‘access politics 2.0,’ characterised by an expansion of concerns to all diseases, tighter linkages between innovation and access concerns, and shifting political dynamics as high-income countries began to experience directly the challenge of high drug prices. These shifts imply a more complex and potentially more consequential politics of access to medicines in the future.

scholarly journals Change in affordability of medications in Kazan in 2011 and 2015 as a reflection of state initiatives to regulate drug prices

2017 ◽  
Vol 98 (5) ◽  
pp. 822-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ch M Razzakova ◽  
L E Ziganshina
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Generic Drugs ◽  
World Health ◽  
Price Ratio ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Drug Prices ◽  
State Initiatives ◽  
Health Action ◽  
Medicine Prices ◽  
Health Organization

Aim. Performing comparative analysis of drug prices in 2011 and 2015 in Kazan to assess the effectiveness of state initiatives to ensure the affordability of medicines. Methods. The collection and processing of data was performed according to methodology developed by Health Action International and World Health Organization (WHO/HAI). We studied the availability and prices of 30 medicines in public and private pharmacies in Kazan in 2011 and 2015 and analyzed the procurement prices of the same medicines in inpatient hospitals. Recording and analysis were performed using standardized MS Excel WHO/HAI Workbook. Medicine prices were compared with international reference prices and were expressed as median price ratio. Results. The analysis showed a decrease in medicine prices in 2015 compared to 2011. In public and private sectors median price ratio of the originator brands reduced by about 3 times, and of the lowest price generics reduced by 1.5 times. A decrease in procurement prices by more than 2 times for generics and more than 6 times for the original brands was also revealed in 2015 in comparison with 2011. Conclusion. State initiatives to regulate drug prices contributed to the price reduction by 1.5-3 times in 2015 compared to 2011; changes in the procedures for the medicines procurement at the legislative level resulted in reduction of procurement prices by more than 2 times for generic drugs in 2015 compared to 2011.

5. The Developing World in International Politics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Hobden
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Developing World ◽  
International System ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter examines the role of developing countries in international politics. International relations, as a discipline, has traditionally overlooked the significance of the developing world in global politics. The chapter begins by discussing the reasons for this and why such an oversight is lamentable. It then considers the position of the developing world throughout the large structural changes that have occurred in the international system since 1945: North–South relations during and after the Cold War and the emerging multipolar world, in which China is anticipated to return to the centre of international politics. The chapter also explores topics such as the United Nations’s involvement in development issues and its role in decolonization, U.S. foreign policy under the two Obama administrations, and nuclear proliferation.

Hyperinflation: Definitions and Causes

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-186
Author(s):  
Manny Saltiel ◽  
Marvin Finnefrock
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Generic Drugs ◽  
Effective Solution ◽  
Hospital Administrators ◽  
High Drug ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Drug Prices ◽  
Price Increases ◽  
Manufacturing Supply Chain ◽  
Market Consolidation

Hundreds of oral and injectable generic drugs have seen dramatic price increases during the 2010s. Several reasons for the astronomic price increases have been postulated, ranging from reduced competition, shortages in the manufacturing supply chain, very small markets, market consolidation, the Unapproved Drugs Initiative of 2006, and unanticipated manufacturing safety issues. In one survey, over 90% of hospital administrators reported that higher drug prices had a moderate or severe impact on their budgets. Whereas compounding pharmacies may present an effective solution to high drug prices, it is a potentially dangerous one, as the case of New England Compounding Center makes clear. The risks make a meticulous vetting process necessary.

scholarly journals Patents and public health

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-68
Author(s):  
J. M. Corberá Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Current System ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Patent Rights ◽  
Economic Nature

Tensions are now known between the interests of holders of patent rights over medicines and those of other groups, especially in developing countries. This work tries to deepen these interests from a point of view, mainly legal, which is accompanied by comments of an economic nature, while identifying possible legal and institutional ways to alleviate the negative social consequences of the current system. To this end, the conflicts generated by patents in the context of public health and, specifically, in relation to access to medicines, will be described, to then address the role of intellectual property systems and the concept and scope of public health. Finally, various legal channels will be presented to reconcile the affected interests and possible programmatic and institutional measures.

“Trust Me”: Patent Offices in Developing Countries

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 151-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Drahos
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Property Law ◽  
Patent Office ◽  
Pharmaceutical Markets ◽  
The World

Patent rules matter to the structure and evolution of pharmaceutical markets. If they did not, pharmaceutical multinationals would not spend resources on their globalization and content. The role of pharmaceutical multinationals in shaping the patent provisions of the Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has been well documented. The contributions of developing country coalitions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on TRIPS and access to medicines have also been studied.One actor, the patent office, has largely escaped detailed scrutiny in the literature that has grown around intellectual property law and access to medicines. There is an obvious explanation. Patent offices are administrative bodies. They administer patent standards that are decided and defined by others – the courts, legislatures or the executive acting in the context of treaty negotiation. For those interested in the structural reform of pharmaceutical markets, reforming patent office administration has not been a high priority.

scholarly journals Access to Medicines and Medical Equipment during COVID-19: Searching Compatibility between the WTO and the WHO

2022 ◽  
pp. 097492842110684
Author(s):  
Mrityunjay Kumar ◽  
Ayesha Fatma ◽  
Nalin Bharti
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Medical Equipment ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World

Affordable access to medicines is a key determinant of a country’s resilience to health crises. The modern hyper-connected international trade and production networks have a vital role to play in ensuring this accessibility, especially in the context of a pandemic. This article focuses on the medicines and medical equipment and analyses the synergistic role of the two international organisations—The World Trade Organisation (WTO) and The World Health Organisation (WHO), in assuring affordable access to these goods globally. WHO is responsible for global healthcare regulations; however, the medical supply chain originates in a few developed countries, manufactured in bulk (in case of medicine) at low cost in developing countries, and finally traded worldwide. Here, the role of WTO comes—it facilitates global trade cooperation and intellectual property rights monitoring, both key elements in medical goods production and trading. Despite the need for cooperation in mitigating COVID-19, much of the global response to COVID-19 has been fragmented and inward-looking. This lack of coordination has serious repercussions especially for developing countries. We use qualitative content analysis methodology, connecting concepts of cooperation theory and global governance, to identify the joint role of the two organisations in fostering global cooperation in medical goods accessibility.

Hyperinflation—Definitions and Causes

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 370-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manny Saltiel ◽  
Marvin Finnefrock
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Generic Drugs ◽  
Effective Solution ◽  
Hospital Administrators ◽  
High Drug ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Drug Prices ◽  
Price Increases ◽  
Manufacturing Supply Chain ◽  
Market Consolidation

Hundreds of oral and injectable generic drugs have seen dramatic price increases during the 2010s. Several reasons for the astronomic price increases have been postulated, ranging from reduced competition, shortages in the manufacturing supply chain, very small markets, market consolidation, the Unapproved Drugs Initiative of 2006, and unanticipated manufacturing safety issues. In one survey, over 90% of hospital administrators reported that higher drug prices had a moderate or severe impact on their budgets. Whereas compounding pharmacies may present an effective solution to high drug prices, it is a potentially dangerous one, as the case of New England Compounding Center makes clear. The risks make a meticulous vetting process necessary.

On retroeconomy

2017 ◽  
pp. 148-159
Author(s):  
V. Papava
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
International Competition ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Role Of The Government

This paper analyzes the problem of technological backwardness of economy. In many mostly developing countries their economies use obsolete technologies. This can create the illusion that this or that business is prosperous. At the level of international competition, however, it is obvious that these types of firms do not have any chance for success. Retroeconomics as a theory of technological backwardness and its detrimental effect upon a country’s economy is considered in the paper. The role of the government is very important for overcoming the effects of retroeconomy. The phenomenon of retroeconomy is already quite deep-rooted throughout the world and it is essential to consolidate the attention of economists and politicians on this threat.

E-Projects Challenges in India – Role of Human Resource Management and Technology

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Ramnik Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Government Services ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Government ◽  
Traditional Approaches

E-governance is a paradigm shift over the traditional approaches in Public Administration which means rendering of government services and information to the public by using electronic means. In the past decades, service quality and responsiveness of the government towards the citizens were least important but with the approach of E-Government the government activities are now well dealt. This paper withdraws experiences from various studies from different countries and projects facing similar challenges which need to be consigned for the successful implementation of e-governance projects. Developing countries like India face poverty and illiteracy as a major obstacle in any form of development which makes it difficult for its government to provide e-services to its people conveniently and fast. It also suggests few suggestions to cope up with the challenges faced while implementing e-projects in India.

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