Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy j (2015) j–j
Letter to the Editor
International drugs markets database to improve global drugs accessibility Abdelaziz Ghanemi, M.Sc. Pharmacology, Ph.D.(c), Pharmacist* Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, PR China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 10049, PR China
One aim of organizations such as the United Nations is to provide economically depressed regions with high-quality drug products at an accessible coast. Within this context, collaborations between diverse organizations and governments are required at all levels. To provide diverse organizations in charge of medication distribution with a panoramic view of the market, the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the manufacturers, providers, governments and other stakeholders could establish an international database that includes the prices, availability and the delivery delay of the medications. This database would include all drugs and medical products available and that have been controlled to assure the quality, safety and eventually affordability. This will create a competitiveness between suppliers and lead to price reduction that does not impact quality, as a quality control system would be established, and products would not be displayed before they pass through that system and are controlled in international laboratories supervised or managed by the WHO and related organizations. In parallel with those international databases, an economics/financial department could be established to both prevent the monopoly and allow countries and organizations willing to assist (for example by financial donations to purchase drugs for poor countries, refugees) to optimize the effort. Within this context, nations can be encouraged to reduce taxes to further improve accessibility.
It is highly required to establish a strong international system of quality control that could be established, combined with the development of international prescriptions1 to prevent the spread of products without a real pharmacological status, such as some herbal preparations.2–4 Importantly, strong legal measures need to be taken to prevent those products from being “reoriented” toward the black market, which would mean that individuals and organization could illegally take benefits from this International drugs markets database. The process of establishing such international drugs markets can benefit from some previous existing examples of models and applications related to drug markets.5–7 On the other hand, this concept could also be extended to both other medical equipment and basic health needs products. Drugs are emphasized here because they are so frequently utilized. However, the concepts described herein can be applied to any items involved in international markets, since the purpose remains to minimize the costs via breaking the economic struggles while assuring access to quality products as a priority rather than financial benefits of the commerce inherent to medication provision. Acknowledgment Abdelaziz Ghanemi is the recipient of a 2013 CAS-TWAS President’s Postgraduate Fellowship.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Ghanemi). 1551-7411/$ - see front matter Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2015.05.004
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Letter to the Editor / Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy j (2015) 1–2
References 1. Ghanemi A. Toward the concept of “standardized” international prescriptions. Res Soc Adm Pharm; 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2014.10.005. 2. Ghanemi A, Boubertakh B. Shorter and sturdier bridges between traditional Chinese medicines and modern pharmacology. Saudi Pharm J; 2014. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsps.2014.02.010. 3. Ghanemi A. How to define a pharmacological or a toxic food? Alexandria J Med; 2014. http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.ajme.2014.06.004.
4. Ghanemi A. How important is pharmacognosy for doctors and dentists? Saudi Dent J 2015;27:1–2. 5. Capo´ LR. International Drug Procurement and Market Intelligence: Cuba. World Development 1983;11:217–222. 6. Switzerland International Drug Marketing Code. Lancet 1988;331(8592):988. 7. Hren R. Impact of the Pharma Economic Act on diffusion of innovation and reduction of costs in the Hungarian prescription drug market (2007–2010). Value Health Reg Issues 2013;2:290–299.
Letter to the Editor
International drugs markets database to improve global drugs accessibility Abdelaziz Ghanemi, M.Sc. Pharmacology, Ph.D.(c), Pharmacist* Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, PR China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 10049, PR China
One aim of organizations such as the United Nations is to provide economically depressed regions with high-quality drug products at an accessible coast. Within this context, collaborations between diverse organizations and governments are required at all levels. To provide diverse organizations in charge of medication distribution with a panoramic view of the market, the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the manufacturers, providers, governments and other stakeholders could establish an international database that includes the prices, availability and the delivery delay of the medications. This database would include all drugs and medical products available and that have been controlled to assure the quality, safety and eventually affordability. This will create a competitiveness between suppliers and lead to price reduction that does not impact quality, as a quality control system would be established, and products would not be displayed before they pass through that system and are controlled in international laboratories supervised or managed by the WHO and related organizations. In parallel with those international databases, an economics/financial department could be established to both prevent the monopoly and allow countries and organizations willing to assist (for example by financial donations to purchase drugs for poor countries, refugees) to optimize the effort. Within this context, nations can be encouraged to reduce taxes to further improve accessibility.
It is highly required to establish a strong international system of quality control that could be established, combined with the development of international prescriptions1 to prevent the spread of products without a real pharmacological status, such as some herbal preparations.2–4 Importantly, strong legal measures need to be taken to prevent those products from being “reoriented” toward the black market, which would mean that individuals and organization could illegally take benefits from this International drugs markets database. The process of establishing such international drugs markets can benefit from some previous existing examples of models and applications related to drug markets.5–7 On the other hand, this concept could also be extended to both other medical equipment and basic health needs products. Drugs are emphasized here because they are so frequently utilized. However, the concepts described herein can be applied to any items involved in international markets, since the purpose remains to minimize the costs via breaking the economic struggles while assuring access to quality products as a priority rather than financial benefits of the commerce inherent to medication provision. Acknowledgment Abdelaziz Ghanemi is the recipient of a 2013 CAS-TWAS President’s Postgraduate Fellowship.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Ghanemi). 1551-7411/$ - see front matter Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2015.05.004
2
Letter to the Editor / Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy j (2015) 1–2
References 1. Ghanemi A. Toward the concept of “standardized” international prescriptions. Res Soc Adm Pharm; 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2014.10.005. 2. Ghanemi A, Boubertakh B. Shorter and sturdier bridges between traditional Chinese medicines and modern pharmacology. Saudi Pharm J; 2014. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsps.2014.02.010. 3. Ghanemi A. How to define a pharmacological or a toxic food? Alexandria J Med; 2014. http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.ajme.2014.06.004.
4. Ghanemi A. How important is pharmacognosy for doctors and dentists? Saudi Dent J 2015;27:1–2. 5. Capo´ LR. International Drug Procurement and Market Intelligence: Cuba. World Development 1983;11:217–222. 6. Switzerland International Drug Marketing Code. Lancet 1988;331(8592):988. 7. Hren R. Impact of the Pharma Economic Act on diffusion of innovation and reduction of costs in the Hungarian prescription drug market (2007–2010). Value Health Reg Issues 2013;2:290–299.
