Pov/Hlth:Ensur Access to Pharm

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Relatively little medical research is devoted to alleviating the burden of disease affecting the overwhelming majority of the world's population. At the same time, new pharmaceutical inventions are commercialized at prices that are beyond the reach of most people in developing countries and beyond the public health budgets of the governments of these countries. This course addresses the resulting global inequity with respect to access to medicines. We will review the institutions (such as international organizations, governments, pharmaceutical companies) and market processes that determine the current state of affairs and examine all major transnational initiatives aimed at improving the situation. The tension between the high prices of patented medicines and affordability of life-saving treatment will be examined particularly, though not exclusively, in the context of antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS.