U.N. Says Essential Drugs Not Sufficient A third of all people are unable to obtain life-saving medicines, WHO declares. 21.10.02 > >GENEVA -- Life-saving medicines are not available to one-third of the > >world's population despite a long international campaign for wider > >access to essential drugs, the World Health Organization said Monday. > > > >In the 25 years since WHO drew up its essential drugs and medicines > >list, the number of people able to obtain those medicines has > >doubled, but there remains "a huge unfinished agenda," said Jonathan > >Quick, the head of the U.N. agency's project. > > > >"We still have 2 billion people who can't regularly get medicines > >when they need them, at a quality they trust and at a price they or > >their community can afford," Quick told health experts at a > >discussion attended by journalists. > > > >The U.N. health agency's list includes more than 300 medicines and > >aims to guide mainly Third World governments and health bodies on > >what drugs should be available, at what quality and price and in what > >dosage. > > > >In poor countries, where a daily income of $1 or $2 is the norm, the > >burden of financing health care often falls on those who are sick. > > > >WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland said so-called > >out-of-pocket payments by patients account for as much as 90% of > >total health care spending in some poor countries. > > > >"For many, the reality is stark: No cash, no cure," she said. > > > >Bernard Pecoul of Doctors Without Borders said patents, particularly > >on AIDS treatments, translate into high prices, "with the direct > >result that people in developing countries cannot afford to save > >their own lives." > > > >"We cannot accept the sick logic that says he who cannot pay, dies," > >he said. --- PHA-Exchange is hosted on Kabissa - Space for change in Africa To post, write to: PHA-Exchange@kabissa.org Website: http://www.lists.kabissa.org/mailman/listinfo/pha-exchange