Loraine shared her work on competition law to improve market efficiency with the ultimate aim of reducing medicine prices.
While much of her presentation concerns government as regulator, little was said about government as
market participant. For example, in certain circumstances, governments may wish to become a market player
in the provision of pharmaceutical services whether the private sector is unable or unwilling to do this work.
Listen to Klaus Leisinger share his company’s perspective about corporate responsibility in the context of market and government failure. Among several points he made some included:
- patents are not the only barriers to medicine access
- the non-achievement of many MDGs among countries is frankly a scandal
- more creative thinking is needed around ways to improve medicine access
- an interdisciplinary and multisectoral approach is needed to overcome current challenges
Probably one of the most inspiring presentations today was by Dr Suwit Wibulpolprasert of the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
He was brave enough to express what others darn not say in public, that:
The WHO “knows everything but does nothing”,
the UNICEF, “does everything but knows nothing”
the World Bank, “knows everything and does everything – but is wrong most of the time”
and the UNDP, “knows nothing and does nothing”.
His point was not that such structures need to be reformed, but rather that they should be reborn. For example, he recommended that WHO member states should stop paying their member fees and simply stop going to the World Health Assembly. Wow! However, he encouraged us to reflect on whether these multilateral institutions are working for the people and whether they’re responding effectively to their needs.
The second poster concerns Health Insurance Systems in Five Sub-Saharan African Countries.
We found:
- There is a lack of comprehensive information on medicines benefits in Sub-Saharan Africa
- There are challenges with providing effective and efficient medicines benefits
- Fraud is a serious issue which requires improved record management systems and provider/member education
- Questions about the design, implementation, and outcomes of medicines benefit policies remain unanswered
- Questions about the impacts of corporate status, revenue sources, structural relationships with health care facilities and dispensaries, and membership profiles remain unanswered
Download a copy of the abstract and poster 213Poster
One of two posters I’m presenting at ICIUM concerns gender and medicines among patients with HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in low and middle-income countries.
We found no clear patterns in gender differences in dimensions related to access and adherence. Surprisingly, very few articles cover the affordability or acceptability of medicine treatment, two core dimensions of our conceptual framework.
Download a copy of the abstract and poster 640Poster.
ICIUM opened today with various informative presentations one of which was welcoming remarks by Anita Wagner (see picture). Anita Wagner chaired the International Scientific Program Committee and highlighted that this year’s event attracted over 540 participants from 80 countries, 350 posters, and 231 oral presentations! With 38 plenaries there is certainly not enough time to get around to everything. The depth and breadth of the content covered during ICIUM is truly mind-blowing. 
