• Introduction
• WHO
• HAI position
• HAI Europe members working on Health, Innovation and Access
• I+A Platform

Introduction

In high-income countries a market-driven pharmaceutical industry does not always sufficiently respond to the needs of particular patient groups, such as women and children. In addition, across the world, it excludes those population groups who represent commercially non-viable medical needs, despite the fact that their illnesses account for a significantly large proportion of the global health burden.
The commercial power and influence of the pharmaceutical industry in national and global healthcare policy has thrown up a visible divide between trade competitiveness and public health. Increasingly public health appears to be sacrificed in the race between regions for trade superiority. Health care systems are under enormous strain, and costs continue to spiral, without clear signs of benefits for the public. Yet it is the public that pays for innovation in health through a number of mechanisms such as taxes, corporate tax breaks and credits, health insurance schemes, and through legal frameworks such as patents.

As need-driven health research is becoming increasingly important: WHO is developing a global strategy and plan of action, and HAI members all over the world are actively working on a future scenario: Where the market fails, new approaches to pharmaceutical R&D are called for.