Global Differential Pricing
By: Dr. Sam Vaknin
Also published by United Press International (UPI)
Also Read:
The Revolt of the Poor
Last April, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade
Organization (WTO), the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, and the US-based
Global Health Council held a 3-days workshop about "Pricing and
Financing of Essential Drugs" in poor countries. Not surprisingly, the
conclusion was:
"... There was broad recognition that differential pricing could play
an important role in ensuring access to existing drugs at affordable
prices, particularly in the poorest countries, while the patent system
would be allowed to continue to play its role in providing incentives
for research and development into new drugs."
The 80 experts, who attended the workshop, proposed to reconcile these
two, apparently contradictory, aspirations by introducing different
prices for drugs in low-income and rich countries. This could be
achieved bilaterally, between companies and purchasers, patent holders
and manufacturers, global suppliers and countries - or through a market
mechanism.
According to IMS Health, poor countries are projected to account for
less than one quarter of pharmaceutical sales this year.
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