South Centre - Building developing country capacity to support access to medicines.
Challenges
Many developing countries around the world do not have access to affordable, lifesaving medicines. To achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3: “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, at all ages”, essential medicines must be affordable. Public health initiatives that increase competition, such as voluntary licensing, have brought about significant price reductions for medicines to treat HIV, TB and hepatitis C, but, in some cases, voluntary licenses may not be available to all developing countries.
Solutions
The project will better equip ministries of health to identify where patents deter production and procurement of affordable, quality medicines. By increasing the capacity of patent examiners, the project also aims to assure the quality of the patents that are issued. South Centre will capitalize on its experience and links with governments to offer specialised training.
The impact we are seeking
The project seeks to generate reductions in prices of medicines that will bring substantial savings to governments in key diseases, and benefit healthcare beyond the diseases that Unitaid principally tackles. Savings can be reinvested in expanding access to medicines and building further capacity.
