New York: Expressing concern that more than half of the people in the poorest countries of Asia and Africa lack regular access to medicines, the United Nations has called for steps to ensure that they get existing and new products for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases.
A report, commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO), also expresses concern that health products, especially for diseases, which disproportionately affect developing nations, are "simply not developed at all due to lack of a sustainable market".
The report, prepared by an independent Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovations and Public Health, recommends that WHO develop a global plan of action to secure enhanced and sustainable funding to make accessible products to address diseases that affect poor nations.
On the positive side, Chairperson of the Commisison, Ruth Dreifuss said there is now a global momentum to address these issues, and the international community has a unique opportunity to build on this.
"There is more awareness, more money potentially available, more utilisation of scientific capacity in developing countries and new institutions such as public-private partnerships," she said.
The report, Dreifuss said, is clear that "we must build on all of these to ensure that poor people in developing countries have sustainable access to the medicines, vaccines and diagnostics they need now, and critically, in the future".
An intergovernmental working group of WHO's Executive Board will consider the report at a meeting on April 28.
The World Health Assembly will then examine and debate the Report during its annual meeting from May 22 to 27.
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