Discussion
A series of fact sheets to provide a background to the global discussion on R&D and the importance of ensuring incentives for medical research.
Medicines and Developing Countries
Members of the public and parliaments worldwide have expressed their desire to help individuals living in developing countries gain access to needed care and medicines. The innovative pharmaceutical industry and the ‘high’ price of drugs is often blamed for the fact that people living in developing countries are still dying of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. However, placing the blame for the growth of diseases in the least developed countries solely on patents and prices is overly simplistic and does not take a plethora of other factors into consideration.
The Impact of Patents on Drug Access in Developing Countries
In the debate over access to medicines in developing countries, patents are often blamed for making essential drugs unaffordable. Yet, 90 per cent of the 319 drugs on the World Health Organizations’ list of essential medicines are not under patent. A recent analysis of patent protection in developing countries showed that on average, only 4 of the 319 drugs on the essential medicines list were under patent in any of 65 low income countries.
The Pharmaceutical Industry’s Contribution
Pharmaceutical companies contribute financial aid, medicine and expertise to many of the world's leading humanitarian, academic, government, multi-lateral and country-based organizations to relieve suffering and increase public health in the developing world.
Weakened Patent Protection Impacts Pharmaceutical Product Safety
Patent standards have an impact on patient safety. Appropriate patent protection and regulation and good pharmaceutical production standards and quality are closely linked. When consumers are prescribed a patented medicine they can be assured that the product has been thoroughly tested for safety and efficacy and that it is produced using the highest manufacturing standards. Weakening patent protection by issuing a compulsory license to allow generic manufacturers to copy patented medicines contributes to the proliferation of sub-standard and counterfeit medicines.
