Access to affordable essential medicines

Improving access to affordable essential medicines is critical for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly MDGs 4, 5, and 6. Since the MDG Gap Task Force began monitoring the situation in 2007, there have not been any clear improvements on average in access to essential medicines in developing and transition economies. In many countries, availability remains grossly inadequate and prices are high, making medicines unaffordable to large sections of the populations of developing countries. The impact of the global economic crisis on access to essential medicines has been uneven. Although pharmaceutical expenditures have not fallen globally, they have decreased in several countries, in particular, the Baltic States. In addition, national and international programmes for the treatment and mitigation of HIV/AIDS have been directly affected in the form of less funding.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development