Essential Medicines News

Merck & Co., Glaxo­SmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis and Sanofi-Pasteur have donated millions of dollars in medicines to aid those with treatable diseases in many developing countries. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, calls upon developed governments to contribute more in preventing diseases abroad.

Comprehensive, Africa-wide control of malaria and NTDs together would probably cost no more than $3 billion a year, or just two days of Pentagon spending. If each of the billion people in the rich world devoted the equivalent of one $3 coffee a year to the cause, several million children every year would be spared death and debility, and the world would be spared the grave risks when disease and despair run unchecked.

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Disease Control was created in 2006 by major public-private partnerships along with the World Health Organization to achieve such a goal. They estimate that $200-$400 million/yr for five years could essentially cure over 500 million individuals from any of the seven major neglected diseases for which treatments are available.