Discussing the world’s most important medicines

Discussing the world’s most important medicines

Alice Motion

E$$ENTIAL MEDICINE$ expert panel discussion

Have you ever wondered where your medicines come from, where they are made and why they each have different prices? 

That is what we’re exploring in the E$$ENTIAL MEDICINE$ project, and was the topic of an expert panel discussion, run by The Breaking Good Project  as part of National Science Week this August. The livestreamed discussion focused around essential medicines, which are defined by the World Health Organizations (WHO) as medicines we should all have access to.

he 6A’s: Always Available, in Adequate Amounts and at Affordable Prices, at Appropriate Dosage and of Assured Quality and provided with Adequate Information.

Accessibility of essential medicines, as described by Associate Professor Alice Motion the director of Breaking Good project, is represented by the 6A’s: Always Available, in Adequate Amounts and at Affordable Prices, at Appropriate Dosage and of Assured Quality and provided with Adequate Information.

A number of the many barriers to the accessibility of medicines for people around the world were discussed by Hung Phat Duong. These include low market incentives due to a small patient population, shortages in production and supply, price hikes which are sudden or large increases in cost of a medicine set by the pharmaceutical company who supplies them.

However, the largest problem in regard to the accessibility of essential medicines, as discussed during the panel by Dr. Yaela Golumbic, is that we actually don’t know the extent of the problem. There is an absence of transparency and information sharing in regard to the accessibility of essential medicines. This affects efficient decision-making  and limits the opportunities for negotiating prices necessary to make all the essential medicines truly accessible.

E$$ENTIAL MEDICINE$ aims to break down these barriers - for information, and for access to essential medicines. We are using a citizen science approach (public participation in scientific research - keep an eye out for our upcoming blog on citizen science), to review and gather information on the essential medicines which means that anyone can participate and help to build a better understanding of the availability and affordability of these medicines for people around the world.

Dr. Kymberley Scroggie described the accomplishments of E$$ENTIAL MEDICINE$ so far, which include creating an initial database of essential medicines that are approved to be sold in the USA and in Australia, what dosage the medicines are available in and who makes or/and supplies these medicines. 

She also introduced the new E$$ENTIAL MEDICINE$ activities which include three challenges, of various levels of complexity that will help us make sense of the ocean of information that is out there, bringing it all together to create one unified database. One which is openly accessible to decision makers, scientists, consumers and any other interested stakeholders.

If you missed the live event and would like to learn more, you can watch the panel discussion video below .

Bringing E$$ENTIAL MEDICINE$ to your school

Bringing E$$ENTIAL MEDICINE$ to your school
National Science Week

National Science Week