How is the pharma industry addressing patient reach? Well, not enough!

Kenya’s The Star writes about the launch of the Access to Medicine Foundation’s new report, which examines the critical issue of how companies are addressing patient reach worldwide, especially in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs)

The article highlights the challenges patients face, being forced to rely on older medications with more side effects due to the high cost and lack of availability of newer, more effective treatments

It then presents key findings from the report: that out of 20 companies analysed, 19 have established approaches to track how they reach patients with their essential medicines in low- and middle-income countries. In addition, of the 42 different approaches reported, 35 measure the reach of product access efforts in LMICs. However, these efforts have been somewhat uneven, indicating a need for a more consistent and comprehensive approach. It is therefore imperative to clearly define how companies are making, supporting and reporting on their commitments.

Marijn Verhoef, Director of Operations and Research at the Foundation is quoted: “Without clarity on the populations they are already serving, it becomes impossible to pinpoint the areas where access remains inadequate—where the real gaps in access to essential medicines persist.”