Date
24 June 2019
Drug Companies Are Focusing on the Poor After Decades of Ignoring Them
Writing in The New York Times, Donald G. McNeil Jr. charts the progress made by pharmaceutical companies on access to medicine since the HIV/AIDS crisis of the late 1990s. Drawing on interviews with leading experts, as well as the Foundation’s recent 10-Year Analysis on this topic, McNeil identifies the factors driving change.
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McNeil talks to experts who have worked for change from within the pharma industry, as well at leading non-profit organisations. He interviews Wim Leereveld, Founder of the Access to Medicine Foundation, and Jayasree K. Iyer, the Foundation’s current Executive Director, and describes the role of the Access to Medicine Index as a tool for change across the industry.
The article covers “vast changes [that] have swept the drug industry over the last two decades”. It also points to the opportunities – and need – for further growth, quoting Jayasree Iyer: “The situation is still fragile. A retreat by one company, or a drop in health care investments, will jeopardize the progress made so far.”