Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 06/2013

Preventing Pharmageddon: Treatment Access for Noncommunicable Diseases

Thomas Bollyky

May 2013

Council on Foreign Relations

Abstract

A global fight over access to medicines is brewing. In the past year, India, China, and Indonesia have undertaken measures to circumvent patents on medicines for diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular and chronic respiratory illnesses—the noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) increasing rapidly in developing countries. A decade ago, a crisis over access to patented HIV/AIDS drugs transformed global health, elevating the infectious diseases ravaging developing countries as a foreign policy issue and mobilizing billions of dollars to develop and deliver new therapies. As litigation, trade tension, and controversy mount over NCD treatment access, addressing this latest pharmageddon will require another transformation in global health, this time focusing on low-cost interventions and patient-centered, rather than country-focused, strategies.