IFPMA urges govts to act on drug distribution

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical ManufacturersAssociations has urged governments to dramatically improve levels of resources in the form of financial and technical grant aid to poor countries in order to improve access to medicines.

There is currently an imbalance in these efforts, said the IFPMA's director general Harvey Bale. "The industry is working hard to develop new therapies and vaccines that are critical in the fight against infectious diseases, but governments are slow in responding to the need to build necessary financial and infrastructure support to get donated and discounted medicines to the most seriously-affected countries," he said.

At the World Health Organization/World Trade Organization workshop on differential pricing and financing of essential drugs, held in Hosbjar, Norway, April 8-11 (Marketletter March 26), Dr Bale was due to describe progress underway at the Accelerating Access Initiative, with Botswana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Uganda already having finalized agreements and with more countries expected to follow. The industry is in talks with over two dozen countries in the developing world with the aim of securing better availability of AIDS medicines for their patients, noted the IFPMA.