Big pharma leaves big gaps: drugmakers urged to do more for poor

Writing for Reuters, Ben Hirschler covers the 2018 Access to Medicine Index: "Many of the world’s top drugmakers are not doing enough to provide medicines to poor countries, leaving big gaps in access to treatments in crucial disease areas, including cancer, according to a new report on Tuesday."

He notes: "The non-profit Access to Medicine Foundation found companies overall were doing more than in the past to reach under-served populations, for example by setting lower prices for some drugs and improving transparency surrounding patents."

The article also comments on the inclusion of cancer in the 2018 Index for the first time.