Public Health and access to medicine. Pharmaceutical industry's role

TL;DR

This paper examines the pharmaceutical industry's impact on global health, analyzing WHO reports to understand access to medicine issues and the industry's role in drug safety and availability.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of WHO data to explore how the pharmaceutical industry influences access to safe, affordable medicines in developing countries.

Findings

10 million deaths annually due to lack of access to treatment

130 thousand deaths per year from unsafe drugs

Industry's role in both improving and hindering access

Abstract

Every year, 10 million people die from lack of access to treatment for curable diseases, specially in developing countries. Meanwhile, legal but unsafe drugs cause 130 thousand deaths per year. How can this be happening in 21st Century? What role does the pharmaceutical industry play in this tragedy? In this research, WHO reports are analyzed and primary information gathered so as to answer this questions.