Access to medicines - key international standards
Below are select introductory materials on business and access to medicines. Further reports from a wide range of sources are in the "Access to medicines" section of this site.
- Key international standards
- Key reports & guidance
- Concerns, company responses & non-responses
- Positive steps by companies
- Lawsuits regarding access to medicines
Key international standards
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: article 25
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: article 12
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: General Comment 14: articles 12.2 (c) and 12.2 (d)
Key reports & guidance
Human rights guidelines for pharmaceutical companies in relation to access to medicines: The sexual and reproductive health context [PDF], Rajat Khosla and Paul Hunt, University of Essex, Mar 2009.
Investing for life - Meeting poor people’s needs for access to medicines through responsible business practices, Oxfam, Nov 2007
Patents, compulsory license and access to medicines: some recent experiences [DOC], Martin Khor, Third World Network, Feb 2007
Corporate responsibilities for access to medicines [PDF], Klaus Leisinger, Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, Apr 2008
Ending the R&D crisis in public health: Promoting pro-poor medical innovation, Oxfam, Nov 2008
New ILO report says HIV/AIDS epidemic costing more than 1 million new jobs per year - Says workplace should become major entry point for prevention and access to treatment, International Labour Organisation, Dec 2006 [También disponible en español] [Aussi disponible en français]
New Report: Top pharma companies fail to address industry best practices on HIV/AIDS, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, Aug 2006
Public health, innovation and intellectual property rights, Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation & Public Health, World Health Organization (WHO), Apr 2006 [También disponible en español] [Aussi disponible en français]
Concerns, company responses & non-responses
The Resource Centre invites companies to respond to allegations of misconduct. Below are examples of allegations and company responses regarding access to medicines. We also indicate when a company has not responded.
Guatemala: Bristol-Myers Squibb supports intellectual property legislation that HIV/AIDS patients & NGOs such as Oxfam warn will restrict access to HIV/AIDS medicines, Apr 2005. Response from Bristol-Myers Squibb. [También disponible en español]
Positive steps by companies
Global: GlaxoSmithKline partners with World Health Organization to fight H1N1 flu in poorest countries – will donate 50 million doses of vaccine. [Aussi disponible en français].
Global: Gilead offers trade secrets to generic firms to help them make AIDS drug more cheaply.
Burkina Faso: Pfizer, Merck & Glaxo donate $450 million in medicines for neglected tropical diseases. [Aussi disponible en français].
Related stories and components
Author: Service d'information des Nations Unies
La multinationale pharmaceutique britannique GlaxoSmithKline a promis à l'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) 50 millions de doses vaccins contre la grippe H1N1 à destination des pays en voie de développement. « Nous nous félicitons de cette très...
- Related stories: GlaxoSmithKline to donate 50 million H1N1 flu vaccines to WHO for poorest countries
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UN health agency set to receive 50 million H1N1 vaccines for developing countries
Author: UN News
A giant pharmaceutical company is slated to donate 50 million doses of the pandemic H1N1 vaccine to the United Nations public health arm, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today. Under a new agreement signed with GlaxoSmithKline, WHO...
- Related stories: GlaxoSmithKline to donate 50 million H1N1 flu vaccines to WHO for poorest countries
- Related in-depth areas: Access to medicines - key international standards
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Author: Destination santé
Lancé en 1987, le programme de donation Mectizan pour le traitement des trypanosomiases, respectivement l’onchocercose en Afrique et la maladie de Chagas en Amérique latine, est un cas d’école. Plus de 530 millions de traitements ont en effet déjà été...
- Related in-depth areas: Access to medicines - key international standards
- Related companies: Merck Merck Sharp & Dohme (part of Merck)
Gilead’s model to enhance availability of anti-AIDS drug [India]
Author: Murali Krishnan, Sindh Today
American bio-pharmaceutical major Gilead, that has entered into generic licensing deals with 10 Indian pharma firms to distribute its HIV drug Viread, is all set to roll out its key anti-AIDS drugs at affordable prices in India and 94 other resource...
- Related in-depth areas: Access to medicines - key international standards
- Related companies: Cipla Gilead Sciences
Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline pledges cheap medicine for world's poor
Author: Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK]
The world's second biggest pharmaceutical company is to radically shift its attitude to providing cheap drugs to millions of people in the developing world. In a major change of strategy, the new head of GlaxoSmithKline, Andrew Witty, has [said] he...
- Related stories: GlaxoSmithKline CEO pledges cheap medicine for world's poor - challenges other drug firms to follow lead
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Abbott Agrees To Settle Lawsuit Over Price of Antiretroviral Norvir [USA]
Author: Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report [USA]
Abbott Laboratories...agreed to...settle an antitrust lawsuit filed by HIV/AIDS advocates and other drug companies over an increase in the price of the company's antiretroviral drug Norvir…Abbott in December 2003 quadrupled the per-patient wholesale...
- Related in-depth areas: Access to medicines - key international standards HIV/AIDS - an introduction Latest Legal News
- Related companies: Abbott Laboratories
Indian firms, Clinton Foundation sign deal on malaria drugs
Author: Indo Asian News Service
Four Indian and two Chinese companies will cut the price of a key malaria drug and control rates of a vital ingredient following a pact signed Thursday with the US-based Clinton Foundation…The Indian companies are generic drug firms Cipla and IPCA...
- Related stories: Indian and Chinese drug companies sign pact with Clinton Foundation for low-priced malaria drugs
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- Related companies: Calyx Cipla Holleypharm IPCA Laboratories Mangalam Novartis PIDI Standard
Brazil NGO opposes Gilead`s AIDS drug patent
Author: Business Standard [India]
The Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has joined Indian patient groups in opposing a patent application for Tenofovir (commonly known as Viread), a key AIDS drug marketed by Gilead Sciences in...
- Related in-depth areas: Access to medicines - key international standards
- Related companies: Gilead Sciences
Burkina Faso: Près de 450 millions de dollars de médicaments pour soigner les maladies « négligées »
Author: IRIN - Nouvelles & analyses humanitaires de l'ONU, Bureau pour la coordination des affaires humanitaires
Plusieurs firmes pharmaceutiques se sont engagées à fournir au Burkina Faso des lots de médicaments d’une valeur de quelque 450 millions de dollars américains pour lutter contre certaines maladies « négligées », responsables de la cécité ou d’autres...
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Burkina Faso: Some $450 million in medicines for “neglected” diseases
Author: IRIN News (Integrated Regional Information Networks), UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Pharmaceutical companies have pledged some US$450 million worth of medicines to Burkina Faso to fight “neglected” diseases that blind or otherwise debilitate millions of people in the country, according to the health minister... The nationwide...
- Related stories: Burkina Faso: Pfizer, Merck & Glaxo donate $450 million in medicines for neglected tropical diseases
- Related in-depth areas: Access to medicines - key international standards
- Related companies: GlaxoSmithKline Merck Pfizer