Survey sees growing pharmaceutical industry contribution to developing world health

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations has announced the results of an update of its 2005 Health Partnerships Survey of the R&D-based pharmaceutical industry's contribution to help attain the health-related United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.

In the period 2000 to 2006, the industry has collectively made available more than 1.3 billion health interventions to help improve the lives of people living in developing countries. These can be broken down into the following principal categories: medicines, vaccines and diagnostics - both donated and no profit; other health care interventions, education for patients and people at risk; and training for health workers.

The assistance provided by the pharmaceutical industry to the developing world in this period, including donations of medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, equipment, other material and labor has been valued at some $6.70 billion, with the donated medicines included at their wholesale prices.