As the 2018 International AIDS Conference kicks off in Amsterdam (23-27 July), Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of the HIV/AIDS Department and the Global Hepatitis Programme of the World Health Organization, discussed in a wide-ranging interview with John Zarocostas for Health Policy Watch the advances, setbacks, and challenges ahead in the global fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. On 18 July, a new report by UNAIDS warned that new infections are rising in around 50 countries, and that AIDS-related deaths are not falling fast enough and flat resources are threatening success. Dr Hirnschall leads the WHO's work in development and implementation of cutting-edge normative policies and guidance, and of technical support to countries to scale up national responses to HIV and hepatitis. He also oversees the Global Hepatitis Programme, which coordinates the organisation’s response to viral hepatitis. Hirnschall holds an MD from the University of Vienna, Austria, and an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Continue reading ->
Basic research in health is often conducted by public universities or institutions, and public health activists have underlined the view that because research is funded by public money, medicines should not be so highly priced. A new study by an independent economic research institute shows that the pharmaceutical industry is a substantial partner in research activities and its investment in basic research is growing. The study, however, falls short of providing answers to key questions such as what is included in research and development figures, or what kind of basic research is conducted. Continue reading ->
Dr Othoman Mellouk is a Moroccan treatment advocate who has been working on intellectual property and access to medicines for more than a decade. He is the Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines Lead at the international treatment preparedness coalition (ITPC), a global network of people living with HIV and their advocates working together to achieve access to HIV and Viral Hepatitis and a member of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Committee on HIV and Hepatitis. Dr Mellouk started off in the Association for the Fight against AIDS which has been at the forefront of the response to HIV in Morocco and the introduction of the first anti-HIV generic medicines in the country. In a series supported by the Make Medicines Affordable organisation, Mellouk recently engaged in an interview with Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch. Continue reading ->
A week after African ministers of health adopted a treaty for the establishment on the African Medicines Agency, an international conference held on the side of the World Health Assembly denounced the rampant and increasing issue of fake medicines in Africa, and the lack of adequate action and political will. The Benin president said Benin's efforts to fight traffickers is so far unsupported, and called developed countries to commit to the fight. Other speakers insisted on the importance of local production of medicines, and the need for biting legislation to defeat fake medicines. Continue reading ->
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General in his inaugural speech at the World Health Assembly this week, explained that partnerships are a key strategy for the WHO to ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. He added that the WHO is engaging with the private sector as a crucial partner in achieving health for all. Thomas Cueni, IFPMA’s Director General, in an interview with Health Policy Watch on the occasion of the IFPMA’s 50-year anniversary, explains how the research-based biopharmaceutical industry together with IFPMA have contributed to the huge strides in health progress over 50 years. He explains the major leaps forward, setbacks and mistakes, as well as how industry is part of the solution, as "do-ers" and partners in global health progress. Cueni also talks about pricing and cost of R&D. Continue reading ->