Rich industrialised nations, along with huge multinational drug companies are not investing in the prevention and cure of malaria. The former because the disease is no problem of theirs, the latter because this particular market yields insignificant profits. This malady, in fact, strikes mainly those who live in developing countries and cannot afford to pay anti-malaria drugs. In fact, only 5 percent of those in need are actually treated.
This dismal state of affairs, however, may soon be about to end. On March 1 a revolutionary anti-malaria drug was launched on the world’s markets. Why revolutionary? Because it is patent-free; it is not subject to intellectual property regimes and it is not-for-profit, which means that anyone can copy its formula. It is called ASAQ, and combines two of the most effective drugs known to treat malaria – artesunate and amadiaquine.
ASAQ is the result of an agreement between Dugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, a non-profit research organisation created in 2003 by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders and the French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis. A treatments costs less than $1 for adults and less than 50 cents for children. Adults with malaria have to take only two pills a day for three days, while infants toddlers and youngsters need only three smaller one-a-day sizes.
Doctors Without Borders, better known by its French name Médecins Sans Frontières, has long been one of the harshest critics of the pharmaceutical industry, charging that it spends billions on drugs like Viagra, Ambien and Prozac for wealthy customers, but almost nothing on those diseases which kill millions of poor people.
To fully appreciate the significance of this landmark agreement we need to remember that in 1997 the South African government had passed a Medicines Act, approved by Nelson Mandela, intended to bring down the price of essential medicines and promote national health above patent rights. As a reaction, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association and 40 brand companies took the South African government to court to block the Act, saying it broke their patent rights and would harm their profits. They withdrew the case in 2001 after a huge public outcry, but this aggressive action revealed to the world the strength of the pharmaceuticals’ grip on the availability of essential medicines, and their desire to protect their patents at all cost. In fact, the issue soon flared up again in Brazil, India and Thailand.
The Church continually reminds us that we must never bow down before the God of profit when human lives are at stake. “Too many people, especially in poor countries, still contract illnesses that can be prevented and cured,” said John Paul II at the Twelfth International Conference organised by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers. “I urge the responsible international bodies to commit themselves to drawing up effective legal guarantees to ensure that the health of those who do not have a voice will also be promoted in its entirety, and that the world of health care will be imbued with the logic of solidarity and charity rather than with the dynamics of profit”.
Thank you, Doctors Without Borders for your shining example in solidarity and charity.
Updated on October 06 2016