Africa: Donors Backtracking on Funding Aids Treatment Nov 14, 2009
Dr Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director for MSF Campaign to Essential Medicines, said backtracking on funding ARVs will result in the premature death of those in desperate need of the life-saving drugs. "AIDS is a continuing emergency. In the 10 highest HIV prevalence countries, AIDS continues to be the leading cause of death. Eighty percent of the deaths in Botswana are due to AIDS. Two-thirds of all deaths in Lesotho, Swaziland (and) Zimbabwe are due to AIDS", he said. (allAfrica.com)
Pharmacists shouldn't shy away from dispensing at OPDs Nov 14, 2009
He said non-availability of essential medicines in the healthcare delivery system "leads to loss of confidence in the health system by the public.". Mr Kyei said currently, local pharmaceutical manufacturers had the capacity to produce only about 20 per cent of the essential drugs, and said this was challenge to the local pharmaceutical manufacturers to increase output. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Africa: Lack of Political Will Threatens Aids Funding Nov 13, 2009
"Last year, in 2008, the Global Fund approved Round 8 Proposals. Unfortunately, because of lack of funding the Global Fund had to cut already approved proposals by $1.5 billion", said Sharonann Lynch, policy adviser for MSF's Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines ... It's immoral that these commitments are now not being stuck to, said Dr Tido von Schoen- Angerer, Director of the MSF's Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines. (allAfrica.com)
In Fight Against AIDS, Kenya Confronts Gay Taboo Nov 8, 2009
But they hope that initiatives such as the NASCOP research will help reshape Kenyan opinions about AIDS. "As a country and as an African culture, we live in full denial of the existence of homosexuality," says James Kamau, national coordinator of the Kenya Treatment Access Movement, which aims to increase the availability of all essential medicines to Kenyans. "Because of the cultural background, we shut our eyes, our minds and everything, yet it is happening every single day.". (Time.com)
Uganda: Bill Threatens Progress on HIV/AIDS Nov 6, 2009
Government responsibility to take steps necessary to ensure access to essential medicines at affordable prices by persons with HIV/AIDS has been deleted. Some changes to the bill improve the potential for human rights protections, such as. (AlertNet)
Africa: Aids Funding at 'Dangerous Turning Point' Nov 6, 2009
"We're launching this report because we think we're at a very dangerous turning point," said Dr Tido von Schoen-Angerer, director of MSF's Access to Essential Medicines campaign. "Critical decisions are being made by governments and we're starting to see the early effects on the ground.". (allAfrica.com)
Downturn hurting AIDS fight, group warns Nov 6, 2009
We think we are at a very dangerous turning point, said Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer, director of the aid group s campaign to provide essential medicines. He said he has been told that donors wanted to spend on cheap and easy illnesses rather than AIDS, which can mean a lifelong commitment to providing expensive drugs. (Boston Globe)
Civil Society activists join forces against fake & counterfeit drugs Oct 18, 2009
Health Access Network is a network of health professionals and consumer health advocates committed to using innovative ways through collaboration with wide range of stakeholders including government, non government and civil society organisations to promote access to essential medicines for the people of Ghana. MPedigree, a partner of IMANI Center for Policy tion, combines insights into technology, policy matters, and social enterprise to formulate its unique approach to fighting counterfeiting. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Uganda: Britain Adopts Tough Blueprint to Monitor Aid Flow Oct 12, 2009
com: Uganda: Britain Adopts Tough Blueprint to Monitor Aid Flow (Page 1 of 1). Britain Adopts Tough Blueprint to Monitor Aid Flow. (allAfrica.com)
China cut prices for about half essential drugs Oct 3, 2009
Prices for about 45 percent of the essential medicines will go down by 12 percent on average. Prices for about 49 percent of the essential medicines will remain unchanged ... Producers or retailers could set essential medicines prices based on market demand, but they should be no higher than the reference retail prices, said the official who declined to be named. (Xinhuanet, China)
Rescuers scramble to find Indonesia earthquake survivors Oct 3, 2009
Doctors at the largest public hospital, which was itself damaged, struggled to treat the injured amid power outages and shortages of essential medicines. On Friday, a rescue team pulled a teenager from the wreckage of a college, more than two days after it collapsed, the Associated Press reported. (Christian Science Monitor -- USA)
Read more... Oct 3, 2009
In all of the emergencies, funds are needed for hygiene kits, essential medicines, water purification tablets, portable toilets and family kits containing blankets and soap, and child protection services. UNICEF is also assisting the governments and other humanitarian agencies in the region to address gaps in the delivery of aid to those affected. (PNN Online)
AmeriCares Expands Medical Assistance Across the United States Sep 24, 2009
Last fiscal year, AmeriCares U.S. Medical Assistance Program supported 160 health care organizations in 30 states with over $20 million worth of essential medicines and supplies. The increased demand for the services at safety net clinics means that AmeriCares medical assistance is needed now more than ever. (AlertNet)
Letter: Say yes to drugs (for all) Sep 24, 2009
Millions of people in the developing world lack access to lifesaving essential medicines due to unnecessarily prohibitive costs that a result of private production by pharmaceutical companies. The campaign is pushing Harvard to exercise its role as a major research institution, to negotiate licenses that require pharmaceutical companies to permit generic production of these lifesaving medical technologies in order to make them more accessible. (Cambridge Chronicle, MA)
Brazil registers 899 swine flu deaths... Sep 17, 2009
But it will "almost certainly have a devastating impact in countries with few health facilities and staff, no regular supplies of essential medicines, little diagnostic and laboratory capacities, and vast populations with no access to safe water and sanitation," she said. US drug regulators Tuesday approved a swine flu vaccine, keeping officials on track to begin a mass vaccination campaign by next month. (The Drudge Report)
US Prison System Falls Short In Treating Drug Addiction, Study Finds Sep 11, 2009
Both methadone and buprenorphine are included in WHO's "Essential Medicines" list of drugs that should be made available at all times by health systems to patients. The Miriam/Brown research team surveyed the medical directors at the 50 state departments of corrections, along with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the District of Columbia prison, about their facilities' ORT prescribing policies and referral programs for inmates leaving prison. (Science Daily)
Johnson & Johnson Honors 2009 Recipient of The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research Sep 8, 2009
Known to his colleagues as "Dr. Paul," Janssen was one of the 20th century's most gifted and passionate researchers, a physician-scientist who helped save millions of lives through his contribution to the discovery and development of more than 80 medicines, of which four are on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines. In 1961, Janssen Pharmaceutica, N.V. joined the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies. (PR Newswire)
India says no to HIV drug patents Sep 4, 2009
"Gilead was worried that they might lose, so they offered licenses, but these came with a sting in the tail," says Michelle Childs, director of Mdecins sans Frontires s Access to Essential Medicines Campaign. Manufacturers could only buy the active ingredient the most expensive part of a drug from Gilead-approved suppliers, and they could only sell the drug to 95 of the poorest countries, not to middle-income countries such as China and Brazil which nonetheless have substantial poor... (Scientific American)
Looking for a cure to corruption Sep 2, 2009
The new essential medicines list includes Western and traditional Chinese medicine to be sold at cost price. It features antibiotics, such as amoxicillin and streptomycin, painkillers like aspirin and paracetamol, and relief for coughs, colds, anxiety and high blood pressure. (Xinhuanet, China)
China issues essential drugs list as part of medical system reform Aug 19, 2009
Essential medicines refer to those which satisfy the health care needs and are available to the public at all times in adequate amounts and in appropriate dosage forms, at a price the public can afford. According to the plan, by the end of this year, about 30 percent of state-owned grass-roots health institutions would be equipped with all the essential medicines on Tuesday's list and would be asked to give priorities to using them when treating patients. (Xinhuanet, China)
Chinese Vice Premier urges health care reform Aug 14, 2009
Li called for setting up a system to ensure accessibility to essential medicines and a pilot reform of state-run hospitals to bring real benefits to the people ... BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday called for setting up a system to ensure accessibility to essential medicines and a pilot reform of state-run hospitals to bring real benefits to the people. (Xinhuanet, China)
Commonwealth Pharmacists Association calls for global alertness Aug 8, 2009
The pharmacists expressed commitment to work actively to ensure the progressive realisation of the rights of the child, including the right of access to health care services and high quality essential medicines. The communiqu=E9 said: " Pharmacists in industry bear key responsibility for providing safe, efficacious and affordable medicines of quality, in their daily relationships and activities." "In developing their vision of a better world all pharmacists should take leadership in many aspects... (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Guinea Bissau: 'It's Like a Hotel for Pregnant Women' Aug 6, 2009
But at the government hospital essential medicines to induce labour, and equipment to perform emergency operations, such as caesarean sections, are still in short supply, he said. He pointed to a woman on a cot: "This girl may need an intervention, but I have no caesarean kits available.". (allAfrica.com)
Ghana pharmaceutical manufactures targets ECOWAS market Jul 15, 2009
He said the Ministry also recognized that the supply and access to efficacious, safe, quality and affordable essential medicines, development of the internal capacity and technological improvement in the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, were critical though more than 80 per cent of pharmaceutical manufacturing activities in the ECOWAS region were concentrated in Ghana and Nigeria. "At present the local pharmaceutical industry is providing between 20-30 per cent of the local essential... (Ghana Web, Ghana)
EXCLUSIVE: N. Korea Cuts Off More U.N. Relief Jul 8, 2009
The agency is budgeted to spend $13 million a year on North Korean operations, principally on food for infants, children and pregnant women, along with emergency vaccination programs, essential medicines and clean water supplies. But nowhere near that amount of money from international donors is currently available. (Fox News)
Africa: Neglected Diseases Under the Microscope Jul 7, 2009
Essential medicines These are medicines listed by the World Health Organisation, as vital to addressing the priority health care needs of a population ... The first new treatment for the disease in 25 years was included on the World Health Organisation's list of essential medicines this year. (allAfrica.com)
Survey suggests price control of drugs Jul 6, 2009
This comes at a time when the department of pharmaceuticals, headed by MK Azhagiri, is set to revive the pending drug policy and extend price control from the current 74 to 354 essential medicines ... The Supreme Court had directed the government in 2003 to develop appropriate criteria to ensure that essential medicines do not fall out of price control. (India Times)
Detention units 'fail on health' Jun 24, 2009
Families can be taken from their homes with no time to pack even essential medicines and clothes. Most go to Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire. (BBC News -- UK)
Genzyme puts the squeeze on developing countries Jun 21, 2009
Nearly every country in Latin America has incorporated a guarantee to the right to health in its constitution, including access to essential medicines. Should drugs for rare diseases, such as Gaucher disease, be considered essential medicines, making governments responsible for their provision ... Latin American court cases have increasingly enforced government provision of essential medicines, regardless of price. (Boston Globe -- Editorial)
Zimbabwe: Good Governance the Key to Donor Funding Jun 20, 2009
6 million monthly to top up salaries for health workers, and also procured and distributed 70 percent of all essential medicines, from painkillers to antibiotics. The funds have been delivered through a private overseas logitical agency. (allAfrica.com)
Oh, goodness. Politicians are about to ‘fix’ health care. Jun 18, 2009
Many people cannot afford the essential medicines necessitated partly by their age and partly by their failure to reach preventive measures early on. What I think about health care is that Jim Wooten knows little about it. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
Venezuela mulls takeover of local Pfizer plant May 23, 2009
"We're very worried, because this plant makes essential medicines that are needed in the country," Saman said, according to the state-run Bolivarian News Agency. It wasn't clear when the plant was closed or for what reason, and calls seeking comment from Pfizer Venezuela SA in Caracas went unanswered. (The Star Online, Malaysia -- Business)
Leading NGOs call for international action to combat epidemic of noncommunicable diseases May 20, 2009
The statement demands a substantial increase in funding for NCDs and greater availability of essential medicines, among other urgent responses, in a way to accelerate achievement of the health Millennium Development Goals ... Ensure the availability of essential medicines for people living with NCDs in low- and middle- income countries. (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Critics: WHO slow on generics for swine flu May 13, 2009
I don t know why WHO hasn t pursued generics, said Tido von Schoen-Angerer, director of Medecins Sans Frontieres Access to Essential Medicines Campaign. A big role for WHO is to increase the world s generics supply of antivirals and make sure all countries have access, von Schoen-Angerer said. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Health)
Asian nations set to boost flu drug stockpiles May 8, 2009
The statement said they would "assess the potential need and increase stockpiling of essential medicines, medical supplies and personal protective equipment to the level necessary for effective responses," it said. This was needed because 90 percent of the global vaccine production is concentrated in Europe and the United States, meaning that "access to effective pandemic vaccines is a major problem in this region", it said. (Yahoo! Asia News)
Travel to Cuba becomes easier for Cuban American families Apr 14, 2009
"They [Cubans] depend a lot on what the family here in the U.S. can do for them. It would be great to go back and see them, and buy them some essential medicines and basic things that we take for granted," Sanchez said. Now, thanks to President Obama, families will get to visit more often. (KHOU.com, TX)
Every Chinese Village To Get Health Clinic Apr 9, 2009
The Health Ministry plans to release a list of essential medicines with controlled prices by the end of the year, raise the salaries of medical workers, and encourage more private investment in health services, said Ma Xiaowei, also vice health minister. Liu, the expert at Peking University, warned that more government regulation could make joining or staying in the profession less attractive. (CBS News)
* China makes bold move on volatile healthcare issue Apr 8, 2009
Hospitals and clinics in the countryside and less developed cities would be improved and the price of essential medicines would be capped. Disease prevention and control, maternal health, mental health and first aid services would also receive greater attention, it said. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Sports)
How a village doctor sees China's health care reforms Apr 8, 2009
The system includes a list of essential medicines that would be produced and distributed under government control. Though the reform has been anticipated by many, it isn't a cure-all to village doctors like Mou. (Xinhuanet, China)
China unveils health-care reform guidelines Apr 8, 2009
Also, the drug supply system will ensure that public hospitals and clinics have essential medicines at regulated prices. Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing. (Xinhuanet, China)
China To Provide Universal Health Care By 2020 Apr 7, 2009
Under the reforms, hospitals and clinics in the poor countryside and less developed cities would be improved and the price of essential medicines would be capped, Xinhua said. Disease prevention and control, maternal health, mental health and first aid services would also receive greater attention, it said. (KIRO TV, WA)
China Says Will Have Health Care for All by 2020 (7:03 a.m.) Apr 6, 2009
Under the reforms, hospitals and clinics in the poor countryside and less developed cities would be improved and the price of essential medicines used by public hospitals and clinics would be capped, Xinhua said. Disease prevention and control, maternal health, mental health and first aid services would also receive greater attention, it said. (WTVR.com, VA)
Uganda: Country Can't Afford Essential Medicines? [editorial] Apr 4, 2009
com: Uganda: Country Can't Afford Essential Medicines ... Uganda: Country Can't Afford Essential Medicines. (allAfrica.com)
Sri Lanka clinic gets vital drugs Mar 23, 2009
A consignment of essential medicines has been received by the last remaining major health facility in rebel-held territory in north-east Sri Lanka. Doctors had feared they would be forced to close the makeshift hospital due to a severe shortage of vital drugs. (BBC News -- South Asia)
Generic drugs vs branded ones Mar 14, 2009
So, it is high time that the Malaysian authorities intervene and regulate the pricing of essential medicines, he says. According to Mohamed Azmi, about 80% of the listed essential drugs in the country have generic substitutes. (The Star Online, Malaysia -- Business)
Kenya: Drug Shortages Threaten Public Health Mar 12, 2009
The "Stop Stock-Outs" campaign wants essential medicines restored to hospital shelves for easy access by those who need them. Essential medicines, as defined by the World Health Organisation, are medicines used to treat common diseases including malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, HIV, Tuberculosis, diabetes and hypertension ... But quarterly surveys since 2003 by HAI and the national health ministry conducted to establish availability and access of medicines in public hospitals indicate that rural... (allAfrica.com)
Continuing leadership in world AIDS fight Mar 9, 2009
In 2008, in an effort led by then-Senator Joseph Biden, Congress renewed and expanded the commitment to PEPFAR. Because of their foresight and desire to make PEPFAR even more effective, then-Senators Biden and Barack Obama fought for and won legislation to renew the program for another five years, to increase its funding to $48 billion, and to extend its coverage to include tuberculosis and malaria, the training of health workers, nutrition programs, and expanded access to essential medicines.... (Boston Globe)
'Civilians die' in S Lanka battle Mar 9, 2009
He also said there was a severe shortage of essential medicines required for surgery and food inside rebel-controlled territory. Allegation denied. (BBC News -- South Asia)
Official: Sri Lanka war zone conditions worsen Feb 26, 2009
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Conditions in Sri Lanka's overcrowded war zone have rapidly deteriorated as stranded families packed fields filled with human waste, water supplies dwindled and a makeshift hospital ran out of essential medicines, the top health official in the region said Wednesday. Aid groups estimate more than 200,000 people are trapped in a small strip of rebel-held territory along the northeast coast as the government wages an all-out offensive to destroy the Tamil Tiger rebels and end... (North County Times)
'Instead of hope, fear defines their childhood' Feb 25, 2009
Some have been evacuated and taken to hospitals out of the war zone, which are overflowing and desperately short of anaesthetic and essential medicines. Fear defines their childhood. (AlertNet)
Rohingyas found off Indonesia's coast Feb 12, 2009
Humane treatment has included looking after their basic needs in terms of food, water and essential medicines. No mistreatment has been accorded to illegal migrants, regardless of their status. (Jakarta Post, Indonesia -- Editorial)
