According to a World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that one-third of the world’s population doesn't have regular access to vital medicines. More than 50% of populations in parts of Africa and Asia and more especially in India where the people lack direct access to the essential and most necessary drugs. Despite the fact that India has low drug prices, only a third of the population has access to essential medicines, and even fewer people would have access to these drugs with the introduction of pharmaceutical patents. Access to medication is a fundamental right for every human being.
Access to medicines
The availability and access to medical care have a significant impact on the general health of a population. Many people fail to get access to medication because of the affordability of the medicine. Many people in developing countries fail to get medication due to poverty, and low-income contributes significantly to this phenomenon. Some countries, however, have subsidized the cost of medicine and made it easier for the population to acquire drugs but in some countries that are mostly in Africa and Asia, this remains to be a far-fetched dream. Failure to get timely medical attention leads to more deaths from chronic diseases that often require immediate care and carefully monitored administration of drugs.
Medicines are a basic human requirement rather than a luxury. Therefore, the ease of access to these medicines will lower death rates and increase the quality of lives as well as extending the lifespan of the population who live mostly in third world countries. One of the main obstacles to providing comprehensive medical care for facilities that provide direct care to medically underserved populations is the access to efficient and affordable medications. In many countries, it is frustrating to get patients to the hospitals, successfully diagnosing the patients and discovering that the patients cannot afford the cost of medication that is going to treat their conditions.
Affordability
Some key players have a significant role to play when it comes to access to affordable and effective medication. One of the key players is the pharmaceutical companies. Others may include governments, regulators, international medical organizations, not-for-profit agencies, and hospitals. Each one of the players has a unique role to play when it comes to access to efficient and affordable medication. The pharmaceutical industry is responsible for developing, manufacturing, and distributing drugs (Kitsis 2011). Pharmaceutical companies are responsible for improving the health of underserved populations, especially in developing countries by enhancing the development and distribution of affordable medicines.
The drug manufacturers often have the responsibility of collecting, investigating and proactively evaluate information that relates to the availability of medicines in all parts of the world so that they can ensure that their products reach the most deserved and poor areas that can otherwise not afford the medications. The companies should collect data concerning the needs of the drugs in poor areas most of which lie in Africa, Asia, India and part of the Americas. In evaluating the information collected, they can come up with effective channels of distribution that can ensure the timely delivery and access of these medicines to the populations.
Research and development
Vigorous monitoring of the health outcomes of the patients in various parts will also provide important insight into ways of developing new effective medicines that are affordable to all populations. Pharmaceutical companies should also investigate the adverse effects or side effects of various drugs because such information will be crucial in determining the best way of developing new drugs that are cheaper and effective to facilitate easy access to the populations. It is also advisable for pharmaceutical companies to provide various agencies and hospitals alike with significant resources to help them in evaluating new drug applications in a timelier manner.
The institutions and regulators will, in turn, reach decisions about the drugs in a more expeditious manner so that the patients can get access to approved medicines on time. Manufacturers are also responsible for setting and determining the cost of the drugs, and an evaluation of their pricing policies will have a significant impact on the accessibility of the drugs to the poor and underdeveloped population in many parts of the world. Regulatory agencies also affect the way pharmaceutical companies operate. A conducive and favorable business environment will ensure that the companies operate with ease without unnecessary and hidden costs that will, in turn, make the prices go up which leads to the people not being able to access the drugs.
Reduced political interventions
Reduced bureaucratic and governmental interventions in the running of the business affairs of pharmaceuticals will also enhance independence in by these firms and thus lead to the seamless development of new drugs that are cheaper. Governments in which these companies operate should also consider providing subsidies so that the manufacturing of these medications can be more competitive which will ensure cheap and effective medicines that will be available to all populations. Constant research and development on current technological advancements in the field of medicine should also be incorporated by these companies to come up with ways of analyzing risks of these innovations and how to mitigate the risks to come up with safe and efficient drugs (Cardinal 2000).
There have been constant strident calls to increase the safety of the drugs all over the world, and careful innovations should be considered when coming up with new medicines. There have been allegations that some pharmaceutical companies develop, produce, market and supply poor quality and unsafe drugs to developing countries because of the high demand of medication and increased desperation for various drugs in these areas. As a result, the companies end up producing and supplying substandard drugs that have caused complications among the populations (Gibson, Suh & Tilson 2008).
When stakeholders are finding solutions for access and availability of drugs, the manufacturers of these drugs should be fully involved in seeking effective solutions on how to adequately meet the demand for medication. The manufacturers must consider themselves an important part of providing medical care to poor populations all over the world. They should also come up with initiatives of ensuring drugs reach areas that are remote and inaccessible by conventional means to make sure that the patients in those areas receive timely medical attention and care. Some companies have introduced initiatives for donating drugs to underdeveloped nations and remote areas that cannot afford or access basic medicines.
Production of low-cost medicines is also another aspect that the manufacturers have embraced so that they can ensure that low-income people can be able to access the drugs easily. Even in developed countries, medical care and health care costs are dramatically high. For instance, the United States has the highest medical care cost than in the rest of the world. Despite this fact, the health outcomes of the population and other factors like infant mortality rates and life expectancy are still average. The rising costs of drugs and medical care are the main factor that leads to this situation.
Production costs
Medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies have often been a subject of criticism for their role in healthcare for a long time now. Although nothing much has changed, there have been calls to evaluate the cost implications of producing these medical devices as well as drugs. The reasons for the high prices and little accessibility of drugs and other medical devices may vary. However, the industry is fully aware that most of the patients who are in dire need of these devices and drugs have little or no choice than to pay high prices to access to these products (Craine 1985). Prices of drugs have remained a constant point of contention among the manufacturers, regulators, patients, and payers of health care who include unions, insurance companies, and employers.
For instance, the United States drug patent system allows companies that develop new drugs to sell exclusively them over an extended period, whereby this arrangement is designed to encourage innovations and discoveries of new drugs and enable these companies to recoup their research and development investments (Chien 2003). The system also employed in most of the countries seeks to provide an incentive to innovation by providing a particularly limited monopoly to the patentees. However, the manufacturers of drugs and medical devices use this theory to defend their exorbitant prices claiming that they develop clinically superior products, but the added costs of the drugs and other medical devices exceed the incremental benefits by a large margin.
Governments in developing countries where access to health care is limited should also initiate powerful incentives to foster the expansion of the pharmaceutical industry and also come up with legislation to ensure that public health care costs are contained. Prescription drugs have always been considered a highly cost-effective treatment; therefore, the manufacturers of drugs should also consider lowering the price of these drugs to ensure their ready availability and affordability. Drugs that are produced by these companies are meant to treat and alleviate many ailments that have afflicted the developing world and cause high morbidity and mortality rates.
Pricing
Therefore, prices should not be a barrier to accessing the medicines. In some cases, donation of drugs by pharmaceutical companies will prove to be essential in availing the medical help where it is not possible to acquire the products (Pérez-Casas & Emilia 2001). The development of policies by manufacturers of drugs and legislation and regulation by governments of poor and developing countries should ensure the affordability supply safety and coherent use of drugs and medical devices. Undeniably, it is essential for these companies to bring down the price paid by governments of developing countries to prevent high prices from excluding poor people from access to these life-saving products.
Gaining access to basic medication should be considered a priority to all and especially in poor and underdeveloped countries. Therefore, drug manufacturers have strived to ensure that people can get timely medication at reasonable costs as we have already observed. However, in some places, this objective is not easily achievable because of economic and political reasons. Some companies operate in unfriendly business environments which make it hard for them to come up with incentives to help the population in gaining their products. Pharmaceutical companies should negotiate with governments to get a favorable environment in which they can conduct their operations with ease so as to offer their products to the markets when they are needed.
Pharmaceutical companies also need to fund research activities towards finding new and safer drugs that can be used to treat chronic diseases. The companies have been accused that the only time they want to fund research is when citizens of a particular country are used in the experiments (Wazana 2000). The manufacturers should embrace the concept of accountability and be sensitive to the plight of people from developing countries by upholding the human rights within their operations of ensuring unlimited access to medicines to all people. With this effect, pharmaceuticals must observe international human rights norms by making drugs affordable to all (Nwobike 2006).
Conclusion
A stronger international framework for corporate accountability should be formulated, and the UN Human Rights Norms for Business are an important impact on this subject. By bringing together all the key international human rights, environmental laws and labor rights, and principles concerning global business, and by measuring the universal primary mechanisms and best practices, the United Nations Norms offer supportive direction and leadership prospects for firms that are willing to conform with their legal and ethical responsibilities. Hopefully, the transition from voluntary to mandatory implementation of the human rights accountabilities of pharmaceuticals corporations is going to be achieved much sooner than later.
Bibliography
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Pérez-Casas, C. & Emilia, H. 2001. “Pricing of Drugs and Donations: Options for Sustainable Equity Pricing.” Tropical Medicine & International Health 6(11): pp.960-965.
Cardinal, L. (2001). Technological Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Use of Organizational Control in Managing Research and Development. Organization Science 12(1), pp.19-36.
Wazana, A. (2000). Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry: Is a Gift Ever Just a Gift? Journal of the American Medical Association 283(3), pp.373-380.
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Craine, R. (1985). Role of the pharmaceutical industry in health care cost containment. American Journal of Cardiology 56(5), pp.43C-46C.
Nwobike, J. (2006). Pharmaceutical Corporations and Access to Drugs in Developing Countries: The Way Forward. International Journal of Human Rights 4, pp.126-144.
