How the Global Health Index Can Aid Access to Medicines for the Global Poor Today
It is not unknown that the highest rate of deaths occurs in some of the poorest nations on earth. According to statistics, “about a third of all deaths, 18 million per year, or 50,000 every day, are poverty related.”[i] Moreover, “every year 9 million people are diagnosed with tuberculosis, every day more than 13,400 people are infected with HIV, and every 30 seconds malaria kills a child.”[ii] Thus, it is quite obvious that death and poverty are positively correlated and it can also be said that this fact is supported by the lack of health care and access to medicines that the global poor face. When poor health is one of the biggest killers of the global poor, we must evaluate the available solutions that can stop this crisis. One of these solutions can be the Global Health Index, which is a rating system created by researchers and civil society organizations in hopes of changing the access to medicines worldwide. Contrary to popular belief, affordable medicine can actually be accessed worldwide if pharmaceutical companies did not monopolize on a poor nation’s need for medications. According to data that compares a nation’s Gini coefficient to the revenue-maximizing profits, a pharmaceutical firm “…will maximize revenues in less equitable economies by selling a smaller quantity at a higher price.”[iii] Therefore, the data proves that pharmaceutical companies earn the most revenue by charging prices that only a very small population of people can afford in nations that have higher Gini coefficients (more inequality in these nations). Hence, it can be seen that pharmaceutical companies play a big role in limiting the access to medicines to poor nations. However, a possible solution to this problem could be the use of a sufficient rating system for pharmaceutical companies’ products like the Global Health Index. The Global Health Index is a rating system that is “dedicated to measuring pharmaceutical products’ impact on global health to advance access to affordable medicines.”[iv] The GHI rates pharmaceutical companies by assigning them drug scores that are based on three premises: Need, Access, and Effectiveness. Once these drug scores are calculated, “…the next step is to rate companies on the basis of their inventions’ impact – aggregating their individual inventions’ impacts.”[v] Researchers and supporters of the GHI hope that this rating system will encourage pharmaceutical firms to strive for better ratings which will require them to invest more R&D for drugs to treat neglected diseases in developing countries such as TB, HIV/AIDS, and malaria.
Pharmaceutical companies also rely on research and development from universities to some extent. One of the easiest ways to impact the research and development of pharmaceutical companies would be to get universities worldwide to support the Global Health Index. If university researchers would prefer highly-rated companies to poorly rated companies in licensing their technology, companies will have a greater incentive to become highly rated.[vi]
Furthermore, this system will, “…provide extremely useful information in an easily accessible format and may open the door to addressing key global health impact problems in other ways.”[vii] One way in which the information generated by the Index could be used would be to shape the foundation for corporate social responsibility initiatives (CSR).[viii] CSR initiatives has proven to have an effect on a company’s performance because shareholders are more inclined to invest in socially responsible companies. Therefore, in order to obtain funding, certain companies would redirect their agenda to become more socially responsible. Other possibilities could be that researchers could use the Index as a standard to evaluate new innovations and company efforts[ix] or, “…to mine the data to figure out which global health innovations have the most impact.”[x] The Global Health Index remains a good proposal that offers an array of benefits and makes it one step closer for the poor to access essential medicines. The problem cannot be solved completely just with the Index, but it sure it abridge a few gaps when used in combination with other existing proposals for addressing the access to medicines problem.
References:
[i] Hassoun, Nicole. "The Case for a Global Health Impact Labelling and Licensing Campaign." Globalization and Global Justice: Shrinking Distance, Expanding Obligations. New York: Cambridge UP, 2014. 1. Print.
[ii] Hassoun, Nicole. "The Case for a Global Health Impact Labelling and Licensing Campaign." Globalization and Global Justice: Shrinking Distance, Expanding Obligations. New York: Cambridge UP, 2014. 1. Print.
[iii] Flynn, Sean, Aidan Hollis, and Mike Palmedo. "An Economic Justification for Open Access to Essential Medicine Patents in Developing Countries." The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics: 184-208. Print.
[iv] Hassoun, Nicole. "The Case for a Global Health Impact Labelling and Licensing Campaign." Globalization and Global Justice: Shrinking Distance, Expanding Obligations. New York: Cambridge UP, 2014. 6. Print.
[v] Hassoun, Nicole. "The Case for a Global Health Impact Labelling and Licensing Campaign." Globalization and Global Justice: Shrinking Distance, Expanding Obligations. New York: Cambridge UP, 2014. 6. Print.
[vi] Hassoun, Nicole. "The Case for a Global Health Impact Labelling and Licensing Campaign." Globalization and Global Justice: Shrinking Distance, Expanding Obligations. New York: Cambridge UP, 2014. 2. Print.
[vii] Hassoun, Nicole. "The Case for a Global Health Impact Labelling and Licensing Campaign." Globalization and Global Justice: Shrinking Distance, Expanding Obligations. New York: Cambridge UP, 2014. 3. Print.
[viii] Hassoun, Nicole. "The Case for a Global Health Impact Labelling and Licensing Campaign." Globalization and Global Justice: Shrinking Distance, Expanding Obligations. New York: Cambridge UP, 2014. 3. Print.
[ix] Hassoun, Nicole. "The Case for a Global Health Impact Labelling and Licensing Campaign." Globalization and Global Justice: Shrinking Distance, Expanding Obligations. New York: Cambridge UP, 2014. 3. Print.
[x] Hassoun, Nicole. "The Case for a Global Health Impact Labelling and Licensing Campaign." Globalization and Global Justice: Shrinking Distance, Expanding Obligations. New York: Cambridge UP, 2014. 3. Print.
