Tag: Access to Medicine

Pharmaceutical companies have been receiving some bad press in the United States for unprecedented price increases of life savings drugs. Given the difficulty for people in this country to afford these medicines, imagine how much more difficult it must be for citizens of nations where even basic medicines are a challenge to obtain. An important tool

The Access to Medicine Foundation, an international nonprofit organization based in the Netherlands, is dedicated to improving access to medicine for people in need. Their award-winning initiative called the Access to Medicine Index (ATMI), launched in 2008 ranks the world’s 20 largest research-based pharmaceutical companies according to their efforts to improve access to medicine in low- to middle-income countries. The 2016 edition of the ATMI can be found here.

The ATMI assesses how companies perform in the following areas: management of access to their medicine; market influence and compliance; research and development; pricing, manufacturing and distribution; patents and licensing; capacity building; and product donation. By comparing companies to one another, the ATMI aims to stimulate pharmaceutical companies to play a bigger role in addressing the challenges of access to medicine in developing countries and to offer them insight into the activities of their peers. As well, the ATMI seeks to create a platform for stakeholders from the pharmaceutical industry, governments, investors, civil society, patient organizations and academia to gather and form a common view of how these pharmaceutical companies can make further progress.

For us at SGI, the ATMI, and the work behind it, is incredibly valuable. I was a part of a recent conversation with staff from the Access to Medicine Foundation and can only salute the foundation’s transparency, its openness to input from stakeholders, its solid research, and its contribution to making the pharmaceutical industry better serve the poor. As credible third party research, the ATMI helps us work toward important goals in our dialogues with pharmaceutical companies.

SGI is deeply committed to its work in health. The late Fr. Mike Crosby, O.F.M., Cap. was a pioneer in engagement with tobacco companies. Today, Marty Roers continues the work in tobacco for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet.  Sr. Judy Sinnwell, O.S.F. (Sisters of St. Francis of Dubuque) engages several pharmaceutical companies on the affordability of medicine. Ann Roberts at Dana Investment Advisors, Inc. and Fr. Robert Wotypka, O.F.M., Cap. (of the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph) are also engaged with companies on drug pricing.

To learn more about the ATMI:

• Forbes takes a deep dive into ATMI here.
• The highly-regarded international medical journal, The Lancet, offers a critical take: “Access to Medicine Index—what about sustainability?”
• In 2017, the Access to Medicine Foundation also introduced the Access to Vaccines Index, an essential component for global health.