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Pharmaceutical corporations and access to drugs indeveloping countries: the way forward

This article examines the role of pharmaceutical companies in problems related to the access to drugs in many developing countries. It commences with a review of the practice of pharmaceutical companies in barring access to drugs for the HIV/AIDS pandemic and their reluctance to fund research with respect to diseases that are not profitable. It is argued that the only time developing countries are likely to have access to drugs is when their citizens are used for experimental purposes as is being suggested in the Pfizer antibiotic drugs test in Nigeria. The article concludes by calling for the World Health Organization (WHO) to take a leading role in making such pharmaceutical companies more sensitive and accountable to the plight of citizens in these developing countries. This can be achieved by setting up a mechanism modeled along the lines of the "equator principles" applicable to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and leading financial institutions.

Human Rights; Health; WHO; Pharmaceutical companies; Developing countries


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