Article Analysis Essay on Access to Medicines-Business as Usual?

Introduction

The major bar to accessing medicines is the associated high prices. Instances of exaggerated prices for medicines have always hit the headlines: hence affecting the majority of people who live in the advanced economies as well as those in the least developed areas. The projection of the pharmaceutical industry by 202 0 is likely to be $1.6 trillion (Pharma report 2019). The purpose of this article is to describe the general overview of the access to medicines with high costs being the main reason why there are still many people who are not able to access them. The government should consider prioritizing areas in medicines such as fair pricing and supply chain management.

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The companies dealing with pharmaceutical products have refused to disclose the actual costs that are involved in the invention of new medicine into the market but research from the industry-sponsored programs has shown that is around $2.6 billion (Pharma report 2019). The research method used in this study is that of analyzing the published reports. The articles help to get clear evidence of what other researchers have found concerning the topic.

The articles depict how the industries have responded towards the issues of improving access to medicines. The latest Access to Medicine Index shows that only a small group of companies have accounted for most activities of being responsible and accountable to the access. There were practices identified from the companies such as having programs that have been useful to the people by offering discounted prices for the medicines or other critical instances of donating the products. These have been necessary initiatives in the right direction of accessing medicines but it has been unclear about their actual impact.

Another report on a program named Novartis Access shows how the initiative has helped in providing a breakthrough in accessing medicines. It was found that there was a significant increase in the availability of drugs such as metformin and amlodipine at the health facilities but there was no evidence of the effect on price (Pharma report 2019). Similarly, there was no impact on medicine availability at household levels. The possible reasons for the lack of the uptake include limited awareness, regulations on approval and imports and the issue that the offered medicines are not those that are sought after for treatment. The choice of distributors may have also been an impact on the purchase.

There need to be more efforts by the industry to improve access to medicines at all levels. The governments should be on the forefront to set a suitable budget for the industry and avail the necessary medicines for treatments as needed. Allocating resources to this field will ensure that more people are able to make purchases for medicines rather than deteriorating in terms of health.

The article suggests that access to medicines, for now, is business as usual. However, the debate on the pricing of the products and their access has not yielded any results that people could rely on for quite a significant period of time. It is important that the ministry of health develops advancement to ensure that citizens access medicines and pay fair prices for them by having transparency. There should be transparent reports from the industry on the social programs and the management of the issues surrounding the health systems.

Reference

Pharma report (2019). Access to medicines-business as usual?https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/langlo/PIIS2214-109X(19)30052-X.pdf