Health-e News: Tackling the high price of medicine
“Profit seems to be the only logic driving medicine prices, with some African countries paying more for medicine than European countries, and U.S. citizens paying some of the highest medicine prices in the world. There are global efforts to rein in excessive profiteering but removing the secrecy around prices is complicated. … Over the past few years, both the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) have launched global initiatives to reduce medicine prices — the latest being the WHO’s second Fair Price Forum, which ended its meeting in Johannesburg on Saturday (13 April)…” (Cullinan, 4/15).

NPR: Why Astronomical Drug Prices Are Bad For Health — And Profits
“…The event [brought] together pharmaceutical executives, government health officials, academics, and advocacy groups to look at ways to make global drug prices more affordable — while also benefiting drug manufacturers. We called up [Fatima Suleman, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa,] who specializes in pharmaceutical policy, to ask her how the global health community could help patients get access to medicines they need and allow drug companies to reach much larger markets…” (Beaubien, 4/12).

Philippine Star: World Health Organization: ‘Fair medicine prices a global rights issue’
“Greater transparency and fair pricing for medicine are a ‘global human rights issue,’ the World Health Organization (WHO) said… It said today’s cost of medicine is a worldwide challenge and a key topic of concern at the global medicine forum in South Africa. … ‘This is a global human rights issue,’ said WHO assistant director general for medicine and health products Mariângela Simão. ‘Everyone has a right to access quality health care’…” (Lee-Brago, 4/16).