Essential Medicines News

Ben Hirschler, “Vaccine scheme ramps up cover and cuts prices” Scientific American, 26 January 2007.

The World Economic Forum announced that since 2000, approximately 2.3 million deaths have been avoided due to the immunization of 138 million children by the GAVI Alliance. Support from private organizations, such as the Gates foundation, has put immunization rates in […]

“Scientists develop cost-effective nuclear medicine kit” Press Trust of India, 28 January 2007.
The Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, under the Defence Research and Development Organisation, has developed a kit with a radiation dose less than that of a CT scan to detect and locate bacterial infections throughout the body. The kit has been […]

Michael Wines, “Virulent TB in South Africa May Imperil Millions”  New York Times, 28 January 2007.
A virulent strain of tuberculosis has killed many in South Africa over the past year and may be spreading throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
“ Several expressed concern at what they called South Africa’s sluggish response to a health emergency that, left unchecked, could prove hugely […]

Stephanie Nieuwoudt, “Sachs says it is possible to meet MDGs” Inter Press Service News Agency, 22 January 2007.
At a recent visit to Nairobi, Jeffrey Sachs, director of the United Nations Millennium Project, said that the goals set forth in the Millennium Project can still be accomplished before 2015. So far, only $140 billion of […]

Sarah Boseley, “Huge cut in measles deaths hailed as triumph” The Guardian, 19 January 2007.
From 1999 to 2005, measle death rates have declined over 60%, which has been attributed to the United Nations’ measles initiative. By the year 2010, the initiative’s goal is to have a decline of 90% in measles mortality.
There […]

Erika Check, “The Treasure of Mumbai,” Wired. December 2006.
Cipla is an Indian pharmaceutical company that took advantage of past Indian drug patent laws that made patents apply not to the chemical compounds themselves but to the processes used to manufacture them. In India, Cipla was able to sell its own version of other company’s drugs […]

“Food and Drug Administration,” British Medical Journal, 334:55-56, 13 January 2007.
The current user fee legislation expires on September 30th of this year, and the reauthorization will most probably introduce new drug safety legislation if Congress finds it necessary. The editorial looks some legislation that may be added, including more resources, independent drug safety investigations, […]

Philip Stevens, “South Africa: ‘Ethical’ drugs’ miss heart of matter,” Business Day, 8 January 2007.
The recent publicity surrounding the supposed “ethical pharmaceutical” scheme announced by scientists in London has been met with skepticism in many parts of the world.
Access to even basic medicines in India remains unacceptably low. Children go without […]

Gireesh Chandra Prasad, “Paswan wants cost-based price control for 354 essential drugs,” Times News Network, 1 January 2007.
Minister Ram Vilas Paswan from Mumbai has proposed to control the prices of 354 essential medicines by restricting pharmaceuticals to setting the price at 150% production cost. Currently, a quarter of the domestic pharmaceutical market is controlled. […]

Julie Clayton, “Calls for fast access to sleeping sickness drug,” SciDev.net, 10 January 2007.
Preliminary results for the use of eflornithine with nifurtimox against sleeping sickness have led the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to call for greater access to these drugs before the clinical trials have completed. While the WHO […]