Germany's VFA and churches want more third-world aid

Germany's research-based pharmaceutical industry association, the VFA, has joined the country's union of churches for third-world development,  the GKKE, in demanding a greater and more effective aid program from the  government. Cornelia Yzer, the VFA's chief executive, noted that the  group's members already make considerable donations of drugs to  countries, for example Merck KGaA's praziquantel for the treatment of  schistosomiasis, the second-most prevalent tropical disease after  malaria (Marketletters passim).

However, the joint declaration from drugmakers and religious  organizations calls for a coordination authority backed by the federal  government, with appropriate funding, to remove bottlenecks to the  development of health care services and the delivery of aid programs.