Youth demand action on the shared global challenge of access to medicines

Abstract

Ensuring access to essential medicines is technically feasible, but politically challenging. As young people, we believe it is time to give new meaning to essential medicines as a shared global challenge and responsibility. 1 Youth Commission on Essential Medicines PoliciesTowards realising access to essential medicines for all: a vision for 2035. http://ycemp.com/Date: Nov 8, 2016 Google Scholar , 2 Mishra SR Li SWS Onarheim KH et al. Young people have a new vision for essential medicines. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2016; 4: 733-734 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar The report of the Youth Commission on Essential Medicines Policies 1 Youth Commission on Essential Medicines PoliciesTowards realising access to essential medicines for all: a vision for 2035. http://ycemp.com/Date: Nov 8, 2016 Google Scholar presents a vision of the global health system—one in which medicines will be regarded as global public goods. Although we welcome and support the report of the Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines Policies, 3 Wirtz VJ Hogerzeil HV Gray AL et al. Essential medicines for universal health coverage. Lancet. 2016; (published online Nov 7.)http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31599-9 Google Scholar we believe that more comprehensive change is necessary to truly transform access to medicines. Essential medicines for universal health coverageEssential medicines satisfy the priority health-care needs of the population. Essential medicines policies are crucial to promoting health and achieving sustainable development. Sustainable Development Goal 3.8 specifically mentions the importance of “access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all” as a central component of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and Sustainable Development Goal 3.b emphasises the need to develop medicines to address persistent treatment gaps. Full-Text PDF Essential medicines for universal health coverageAccess to medicines has long been a potent flashpoint in global health, from antiretrovirals to drugs that cure hepatitis C. Indeed, as a new Lancet Commission report, Essential Medicines for Universal Health Coverage,1 asserts, essential medicines should be at the centre of our vision for global health, affecting, as they do, the lives and dignity of people worldwide. Led by Veronika Wirtz, Hans Hogerzeil, and Andy Gray, the Commission identifies lessons learned from 30 years of implementing essential medicines policies. Full-Text PDF Better life through medicine—let's leave no one behindThe Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines Policies1 rightfully addresses the need to guarantee access to essential medicines for all. However, we cannot achieve any real progress without acknowledging that the current patent-based business model and the way we apply international patent rules need to change. The system is broken. Full-Text PDF Towards access 2030The Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines Policies1 identifies five areas as crucial to ensure access to medicines for 2030: “paying for a basket of essential medicines, making essential medicines affordable, assuring the quality and safety of medicines, promoting quality use of medicines, and developing missing essential medicines”. These are issues that WHO has promoted for some time. The question, however, is whether the Commission's recommendations—mostly aimed at governments—are sufficient to ensure progress towards universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. Full-Text PDF Scaling up for universal health coverageThe report on essential medicines for universal health coverage (UHC) by the Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines Policies1 provides a timely contribution to discussions about how improving access to medicines can help achieve UHC. Nobody would dispute the need for improvements in both innovation of health-care technology and access to it, and there is much in the report with which I agree. Full-Text PDF