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Abstract(s)
O acesso ao medicamento é um processo muito abrangente que implica uma avaliação
terapêutica e económica complexa, onde se incluem medicamentos, incluindo os de terapia
avançada. Este é um processo bastante heterogéneo a nível internacional, daí a necessidade de
criação de grupos de trabalho e diversas colaborações para otimizar e agilizar os processos, com
o objetivo de atenuar as desigualdades existentes.
Para garantir uma melhor qualidade de vida e maior esperança de vida, é necessário
assegurar o acesso aos medicamentos mais adequados por parte dos países em desenvolvimento
e também dos doentes com menor capacidade financeira. Para tal, é necessário que sejam
delineadas diversas estratégias tanto pelos governos como pelas várias entidades internacionais
que se debruçam sobre esta temática, entre as quais a Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS) e
algumas Organizações não Governamentais (ONG’s).
Uma das maiores problemáticas relacionadas com as desigualdades no acesso ao
medicamento centra-se nas regras de proteção de patentes. As indústrias farmacêuticas, ao
desenvolverem um medicamento, ficam com um controlo económico total sobre o mesmo
durante o período abrangido pela patente, o que faz com que o preço desses medicamentos seja
extremamente elevado por não existir oferta em comparação com a enorme procura. Tendo isto
em consideração, é fácil entender o porquê dos países com menor capacidade financeira terem
tantas dificuldades em adquirir medicação e também em fazer chegar essa medicação à sua
população que, devido às condições de pobreza, não tem poder financeiro para a comprar.
Embora nos últimos anos os indicadores estatísticos apontem para um crescimento
muito positivo no acesso ao medicamento, existe ainda um trabalho considerável a desenvolver
neste campo.
Na história da humanidade existiram duas crises globais, a crise do HIV e mais
recentemente a da COVID-19, que alteraram a forma como é agora possível olhar para o futuro
do acesso ao medicamento e, durante as mesmas, foram criadas inúmeras estratégias que
deveriam ser mais tidas em consideração e aplicadas noutras doenças com menor atenção
mediática, mas que são tão ou mais problemáticas que as anteriormente referidas.
Access to medicines is a very embracing process that implies a complex therapeutic and economic evaluation, which includes medicines, including the ones from advanced therapies. This is a very heterogeneous process at a international level, hence there is a big necessity to create joint working groups and various collaborations to optimize and streamline processes, preventing such a marked inequality in access. In order to guarantee a better quality of life and better life expectancy, it is necessary to assure access to medicines for developing countries and also for patients with less financial capacity. For this to occur, it is necessary to have different strategies outlined by governments and by the various international entities that are focused on this issue, including the WHO and some NGO’s. One of the biggest problems related to inequalities in access to medicines is focused on patent’s protection rules. When pharmaceutical companies develop a drug, they have full economic control over it for as long as the patent holds, which makes the price of these drugs extremely high because there is no supply compared to the huge demand. Bearing this in mind, it is easy to understand why countries with less financial capacity have so many difficulties in acquiring medication and also in getting this medication to their population, which, being quite poor, does not have the financial power to buy it. Although in recent years, statistical indicators point to a very positive growth in the access to medicines, there is still a lot of work to be done in this field. In the history of humanity there have been two global crises, the HIV crisis and more recently the COVID-19 one, which changed the way in how it is now possible to look at the future of access to medicines and, during them, numerous strategies were created that should be more taken into account and applied to other diseases with less media attention but which are as or more deadly than those mentioned above.
Access to medicines is a very embracing process that implies a complex therapeutic and economic evaluation, which includes medicines, including the ones from advanced therapies. This is a very heterogeneous process at a international level, hence there is a big necessity to create joint working groups and various collaborations to optimize and streamline processes, preventing such a marked inequality in access. In order to guarantee a better quality of life and better life expectancy, it is necessary to assure access to medicines for developing countries and also for patients with less financial capacity. For this to occur, it is necessary to have different strategies outlined by governments and by the various international entities that are focused on this issue, including the WHO and some NGO’s. One of the biggest problems related to inequalities in access to medicines is focused on patent’s protection rules. When pharmaceutical companies develop a drug, they have full economic control over it for as long as the patent holds, which makes the price of these drugs extremely high because there is no supply compared to the huge demand. Bearing this in mind, it is easy to understand why countries with less financial capacity have so many difficulties in acquiring medication and also in getting this medication to their population, which, being quite poor, does not have the financial power to buy it. Although in recent years, statistical indicators point to a very positive growth in the access to medicines, there is still a lot of work to be done in this field. In the history of humanity there have been two global crises, the HIV crisis and more recently the COVID-19 one, which changed the way in how it is now possible to look at the future of access to medicines and, during them, numerous strategies were created that should be more taken into account and applied to other diseases with less media attention but which are as or more deadly than those mentioned above.
Description
Trabalho Final de Mestrado Integrado, Ciências Farmacêuticas, 2022, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia.
Keywords
Acesso ao medicamento Direitos humanos Estratégias de financiamento HIV COVID-19 Mestrado integrado - 2022