By NNN-ENA
Addis Ababa : The United Nations health chief has urged countries to come up with new ways to make medicines for HIV/AIDS and other diseases more affordable in the world’s poorest countries, without stifling innovation among pharmaceutical companies.
The 193 member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) are hoping to forge a global strategy on the highly divisive issues of drug development, patenting and pricing by the end of the week.
“People should not be denied access to life-saving and health-promoting interventions for unfair reasons,” said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO’s director-general, in opening the agency’s first meeting devoted to the subject since May, when the United States walked out of a negotiating session and dissociated itself from a WHO resolution.
Chan said she was aware that the “price of medicines and other products can be prohibitive, effectively blocking access to care.” However, she added, public health needs innovation.