Statement | 8 November, 2016 | Download PDF
Reports by Lancet Commission and High-level Panel on Access to Medicines expose dire state
of global access to medicines and provide blueprint to fix flawed system for medicines access and innovation
AMSTERDAM—As a member of The Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines and a non-profit consumer organisation dedicated to improving global access to medicines, Health Action International welcomes the Lancet Commission’s report, Essential Medicines for Universal Health Coverage.
The Commission’s recommendations are not new, but new recommendations are not needed. It is the momentum generated by the report that must not be allowed to falter.
Together, the reports by The Lancet Commission and the United Nations High Level Panel on Access to Medicines provide a damning indictment of the global access to medicines situation. More importantly, they provide a blueprint for change.
To improve access to essential medicines, it is imperative that all governments fully implement the recommendations laid out in these reports. This is a necessity if governments truly wish to achieve universal health coverage and uphold their citizens’ right to health.
In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) must provide strong and consistent leadership and support to governments implementing these recommendations. We appeal to the new Director-General, who will take office next July, to unreservedly champion access to medicines policy reform among member states.
Health Action International will continue to work with our members and partners to hold global health and government leaders to account. We will press governments to enact and enforce the policy recommendations laid out by the Commission and High-level Panel, and the WHO to deliver on its role as a leader for universal access to medicines.
For comment and additional information, please contact:
Bobbi Klettke, Communications, Health Action International
E: bobbi@haiweb.org | T: +31 20 412 4523 | M: +31 68 142 3206 | www.haiweb.org