Cambridge, May 8, 2018- Global Access in Action (GAiA) launched its annual report today highlighting the major progress made in 2017 to expand access to medicines to the world’s neediest.
2017 marked a year of significant progress made by GAiA in its effort to improve access to medicines to the vulnerable populations. The annual report showcases major projects undertaken by GAiA, its active engagement with various local and global stakeholders as well as organizational expansion in terms of staffing in the year of 2017.
One of the major projects undertaken by GAiA in 2017 was the expansion of a pilot project that aims to develop a public health sensitive legal framework that allows for sustainability of low-cost medicine supply while providing legal protections that are necessary to incentivize innovations to pharmaceutical companies. The project started in 2016 in Namibia and further expanded to two other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Malawi and Mozambique. The initiative also involved collaboration with Global Good to fight substandard and falsified (S&F) medicines in sub-Saharan Africa with the use of field detection technology- miniature spectrometer.
While access to medicines is an issue at stake, the problem of S&F medicines can exacerbate the existing access challenge. In the introductory letter of the annual report, GAiA’s Co-Directors, William Fisher and Quentin Palfrey stressed that, “Even those who have access are at risk of consuming counterfeit medicines in many countries that often lead to lethal consequences.” GAiA is envisioning and working to establish a quality assurance network among the countries involved in the pilot project to allow for data sharing on S&F medical products.
Along with the expansion of the pilot project, GAiA also published a green paper, “Expanding Access to Medicines and Promoting Innovation: A Practical Approach” in the April edition of Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy exploring practical strategies initiated by pharmaceuticals companies to solve the access barriers in low- and middle- income countries.
Click here to read more about annual report.
About Global Access in Action
Global Access in Action, a project of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, seeks to expand access to lifesaving medicines and combat the communicable disease burden that disproportionately harms the world’s most vulnerable populations. We accomplish this by conducting action-oriented research, supporting breakthrough initiatives, facilitating stakeholder dialogue, and providing policy advice to both public and private sector stakeholders. GAiA seeks to foster dialogue across traditional boundaries between government, industry, civil society, and academia, and to promote new, innovative solutions amongst these parties to create better outcomes.