Dates: 26 October 2021
Berlin, Germany
Lack of access to medicines is a multi-dimensional challenge that stands in the way of better health everywhere. In particular, limited access to essential medicines is one of the key barriers to health in most LMICs: an estimated two billion people have no access to essential medicines.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority health care needs of the population and are intended to be available at all times in adequate amounts, in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality, and at a price the individual and the community can afford.
Affordability is the cornerstone of access but by itself it is not enough. There are other barriers such as diagnosis, health system readiness and government commitment. The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (WHO EML) provides an internationally recognisable set of selected medicines to help Member States to choose how to treat their priority health needs. However, in a review of 137 National EMLs performed in 2019, there were identified more than 200 substantial differences between national lists of essential medicines and the WHO EML.
Unless we solve affordability but also these other challenges, most of patented essential medicines including those for treating diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, will continue to remain beyond the reach of most people in need, stalling progress towards achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals.
How can we make essential medicines available and affordable in LMICs? What could be the right approach to develop a more holistic strategy to address access? What lessons can we learn from COVID-19 that could be used to make access easier and quicker in NCDs? The answers will depend on specific circumstances but, nevertheless, must be judged against the standards of transparency, sustainability, and impact.
Press and Media
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to and facilitate the development of life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries. Through its innovative business model, MPP partners with civil society, governments, international organisations, industry, patient groups, and other stakeholders to prioritise and license needed medicines and pool intellectual property to encourage generic manufacture and the development of new formulations.
To date, MPP has signed agreements with 22 patent holders for 13 HIV antiretrovirals, one HIV technology platform, three hepatitis C direct-acting antivirals, a tuberculosis treatment, a cancer treatment, four long-acting technologies, a post-partum haemorrhage medicine, three oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19 and 16 COVID-19 technologies.
MPP was founded by Unitaid, which continues to be MPP’s main funder. MPP’s work on access to essential medicines is also funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Government of Canada, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Government of Flanders. MPP’s activities in COVID-19 are undertaken with the financial support of the Japanese Government, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the German Agency for International Cooperation, and SDC.