PHA-Exchange> U.N. Says Essential Drugs Not Sufficient

[Aviva]

U.N. Says Essential Drugs Not Sufficient

A third of all people are unable to obtain life-saving medicines,
WHO declares.

> >GENEVA -- Life-saving medicines are not available to one-third of
> >the world's population despite a long international campaign for
> >wider access to essential drugs, the World Health Organization
> >said Monday.
> >
> >In the 25 years since WHO drew up its essential drugs and
> >medicines list, the number of people able to obtain those
> >medicines has doubled, but there remains "a huge unfinished
> >agenda," said Jonathan Quick, the head of the U.N. agency's
> >project.
> >
> >"We still have 2 billion people who can't regularly get medicines
> >when they need them, at a quality they trust and at a price they
> >or their community can afford," Quick told health experts at a
> >discussion attended by journalists.
> >
> >The U.N. health agency's list includes more than 300 medicines
> >and aims to guide mainly Third World governments and health
> >bodies on what drugs should be available, at what quality and
> >price and in what dosage.
> >
> >In poor countries, where a daily income of $1 or $2 is the norm,
> >the burden of financing health care often falls on those who are
> >sick.
> >
> >WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland said so-called
> >out-of-pocket payments by patients account for as much as 90% of
> >total health care spending in some poor countries.
> >
> >"For many, the reality is stark: No cash, no cure," she said.
> >
> >Bernard Pecoul of Doctors Without Borders said patents,
> >particularly on AIDS treatments, translate into high prices,
> >"with the direct result that people in developing countries
> >cannot afford to save their own lives."
> >
> >"We cannot accept the sick logic that says he who cannot pay, dies," he
said.