AUTHOR=Stevens Hilde , Huys Isabelle TITLE=Innovative Approaches to Increase Access to Medicines in Developing Countries JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine VOLUME=4 YEAR=2017 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2017.00218 DOI=10.3389/fmed.2017.00218 ISSN=2296-858X ABSTRACT=

Access to essential medicines is problematic for one third of all persons worldwide. The price of many medicines (i.e., drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics) is unaffordable to the majority of the population in need, especially in least-developed countries, but also increasingly in middle-income countries. Several innovative approaches, based on partnerships, intellectual property, and pricing, are used to stimulate innovation, promote healthcare delivery, and reduce global health disparities. No single approach suffices, and therefore stakeholders need to further engage in partnerships promoting knowledge and technology transfer in assuring essential medicines to be manufactured, authorized, and distributed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in an effort of making them available at affordable and acceptable conditions.