On March 10th, DSW co-organized in Brussels a debate on Patients’ Needs Driving Innovation in Global Health, together with PATH, EPHA, European Public Health Alliance, and EPFIA, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations. The event was moderated by Deborah Cohen, from the British Medical Journal, and was well attended with about 40 participants.
The aim was to discuss patients’ role in driving innovation to tackle poverty-related and neglected tropical diseases (PRNDs). Despite some progress on this front, ‘much more needs to be done to have patients setting the [health] agenda’, said Nittita Prasopa-Plaizier from WHO. Isabela Ribeiro from DNDi, supported this vision by defending that involving patients at all stages would help improving tools for both diagnosis and treatment. Ingelise Damkjær, a former TB Patient, gave her testimony on the intense treatment she had to follow and appealed to the general public to take these diseases more seriously.
With regards to investment in poverty-related and neglected tropical diseases, MEP Fiona Hall (ALDE, UK) highlighted the lack of incentives for pharmaceutical industry to invest in R&D. Benedict Blayney from Sanofi, confirmed the need to improve drugs ‘yes, but they are there, and there is a huge challenge to get them out, we need good infrastructure’. From the 17 WHO listed neglected tropical diseases, 15 of them have available although at times suboptimal drugs and vaccines, while Guinea worm disease is close to eradication. The European Commission, represented by Kevin McCarthy, DG DEVCO, also clarified that although a significant part of EC funds has been allocated to HIV, malaria and TB, this is expected to change with EDCTP2 and respective broader mandate.
‘When do we begin trading-off private profits for access? That’s the biggest challenge’, Joshua Wamboga Magawa from the AIDS Support Organisation pointed out, in a debate that highlighted the need for investing in innovative and quality products.
