Essential Drugs

11 Pages Posted: 6 Feb 2007

See all articles by Frederic M. Scherer

Frederic M. Scherer

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Date Written: February 2007

Abstract

This short article, written for the forthcoming Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy, characterizes the problems low-income nations experience obtaining access to modern pharmaceutical therapies, which could alleviate disease and facilitate economic development. Lack of purchasing power is of course the key difficulty. A potential aggravation is the Uruguay Round treaty commitment under which third world nations will eventually have to offer drug product patents like those typical in rich nations. For drugs already marketed in right nations, deficient purchasing power can be combated in part when pharmaceutical companies practice differential pricing - selling as much lower prices in low-income nations than in the industrialized world. The development of new pharmaceuticals is oriented primarily toward the needs of consumers in rich nations, leaving a deficiency of drugs for so-called tropical diseases. Remedial proposals are analyzed.

Keywords: International development

Suggested Citation

Scherer, Frederic M., Essential Drugs (February 2007). KSG Working Paper No. RWP07-003, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=939659 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.939659

Frederic M. Scherer (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
617-495-1154 (Phone)
617-496-0063 (Fax)

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