Pharmaceutical Companies and Global Lack of Access to Medicines: Strengthening Accountability under the Right to Health

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anand Grover ◽  
Brian Citro ◽  
Mihir Mankad ◽  
Fiona Lander
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Living With Hiv

Approximately two billion people lack access to medicines globally. People living with HIV, cancer patients, those suffering from tuberculosis or malaria, and other populations in desperate need of life-saving medicines are increasingly unable to access existing preventative, curative, and life-prolonging treatments. In many cases, treatment may be unavailable or inaccessible for even some of the most common and readily treatable health concerns, such as hypertension. In the developing world, many of the factors that contribute to making the world’s most vulnerable and marginalized populations particularly susceptible to illness also operate to restrict their access to medicines. As a result of dramatic economic inequities and widespread poverty, it is not profitable for most originator pharmaceutical companies to develop new medicines for sale in developing markets or to lower the cost of existing drugs so that they are affordable for the majority of these populations.

scholarly journals Quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS treated by the specialized service in Vitória-ES, Brazil

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1075-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella Barreto Soares ◽  
Cléa Adas Saliba Garbin ◽  
Tânia Adas Saliba Rovida ◽  
Artênio José Ísper Garbin
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Sexual Activity ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Life Issues ◽  
Living With Hiv ◽  
Hiv Aids

The aim of this study is to establish the factors that influence the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS being treated at a specialized public service. The participants answered the questionnaire on sociodemographic conditions, issues related to HIV and daily habits. The quality of life was analyzed using the HIV/AIDS-targeted quality of life (HAT-QoL) instrument with 42 items divided into 9 fields: General Activity, Sexual Activity, Confidentiality Concerns, Health Concerns, Financial Concerns, HIV Awareness, Satisfaction with Life, Issues related to Medication and Trust in the Physician. Bivariate and multiple linear regressions were performed. Of the participants, 53.1% were women and had a mean age of 42 years. In analyzing the quality of life, the HAT-QoL domain with the lowest average was Financial Concerns (39.4), followed by Confidentiality Concerns (43.2), Sexual Activity (55.2) and Health Concerns (62. 88). There was an association between the variables: not being gainfully employed (p < 0.001), being mulatto or black (p = 0.045) and alcohol consumption (p = 0.041) with the worst quality of life scores. Inadequate socioeconomic and health conditions had a negative impact on the quality of life of people with HIV/AIDS.

scholarly journals A Política Internacional da Saúde: a UNITAID e o acesso a medicamentos | The International Politics of Health: UNITAID and access to medicines

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 03-10
Author(s):  
Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim
Keyword(s):  
Patent Protection ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Right ◽  
Hiv Aids

O direito à saúde é um direito fundamental. Várias iniciativas no âmbito da Assembleia Geral da ONU e no Conselho de Direitos Humanos reforçam esse pensamento. Neste particular, a criação da UNITAID, em 2006, foi uma forma de facilitar o acesso a medicamentos a populações mais pobres utilizando fontes inovadoras de financiamento. A instituição, hospedada pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS), busca melhores formas de prevenir, tratar e diagnosticar o HIV/AIDS, a tuberculose e a malária de forma mais rápida, eficaz e acessível, buscando conciliar a discussão de patentes com o direito inalienável à saúde. O artigo analisa o processo político e as negociações que levaram à Declaração de Doha sobre TRIPS e Saúde Pública, cuja importância é destacada, entre outros, pelos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável aprovado por todos os Chefes de Estado das Nações Unidas.ABSTRACTThe right to health is a fundamental, inalienable human right. A number of initiatives within the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council reinforce this concept. Established in 2006 and hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNITAID is engaged in finding new ways to prevent, treat and diagnose HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria more quickly, more cheaply and more effectively. It plays an important role in the global effort to defeat these lethal diseases, by facilitating and speeding up the availability of improved health tools and trying to reconcile patent protection with the right to health.  The article analyzes the political process and the negotiations which led up to the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health, whose importance – among others – is highlighted on the Sustainable Development Objectives approved by all United Nations Heads of State.Palavras-chave: UNITAID, acesso a medicamentos, saúde global, TRIPS, Doha.Keywords: UNITAID, access to medicines, global health, TRIPS, Doha.DOI: 10.12957/rmi.2016.27034Recebido em 28 de dezembro de 2016 | Received on December 28, 2016.

The cost of hospital care for HIV patients in Colombia: an insurer’s perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 696-702
Author(s):  
Carlos A Álvarez-Moreno ◽  
Abel E González-Vélez ◽  
Claudia C Colmenares-Mejía ◽  
Karen L Rincón-Ramírez ◽  
Javier A García-Buitrago ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Lymphocyte ◽  
Price Index ◽  
Consumer Price Index ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Key Indicator ◽  
Clinical Control ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Living With Hiv ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost derived from the hospitalization of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Colombia between 2011 and 2015. This is an analysis of the direct cost of PLHIV hospitalization from the perspective of an insurer of the Colombian General Social Security System. The costs were calculated in Colombian pesos and corrected for inflation on the basis of the 2017 Consumer Price Index of the Bank of the Republic of Colombia. It was converted to US dollars at the Market Representative Exchange Rate of the same year. We analyzed 1129 hospitalizations in 612 PLHIV, of which 12% started with a diagnosis of HIV during the same hospitalization, with the majority in the AIDS stage (63%). The median overall cost of hospitalizations was US$1509 (25th and 75th percentiles: US$711–US$3254), being even higher in patients with AIDS and as the CD4 T lymphocyte count decreased. The cost derived from the medical care of PLHIV increases as the clinical control of the disease worsens, and it is a key indicator of the impact of the strategies implemented for the timely identification of the infection and subsequent management of the disease.

scholarly journals Introduction: Access to Life-Saving Medicines and Intellectual Property Rights

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-278
Author(s):  
DORIS SCHROEDER
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Millennium Development Goals ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Vital Component

As the authors of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Gap Task Force have noted, access to medicines is a vital component of realizing the human right to health. Without reliable access to drugs, the highest attainable standard of health cannot be achieved.

scholarly journals Why Are Generic Drugs Being Held Up in Transit?: Intellectual Property Rights, International Trade, and the Right to Health in Brazil and Beyond

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Shaver
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Generic Drugs ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
The Right ◽  
In Transit

Monica Steffen Guise Rosina &amp; Lea Shaver, Why Are Generic Drugs Being Held Up in Transit?: Intellectual Property Rights, International Trade, and the Right to Health in Brazil and Beyond, 40 J. L, Med. &amp; Ethics 197 (2012)Access to medicines faces a new legal threat: “border enforcement” of drug patents. Using Brazil as an example, this article shows how the right to health depends on international trade. Border seizures of generic drugs present human rights and trade institutions with a unique challenge. Can public health advocates rise to meet it?

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