What we need is to work through Europe to strengthen world class medical research capacity. Then, rather than putting this research – or, in fact, the data of patients who underlie them – to the pharmaceutical cartel, we must develop a different model of protection of intellectual property which allows the sharing and granting of research licenses in a way that supports international collaboration to produce better drugs for all.
Such an approach would not only reduce Trump’s plans to improve American power, it would also mean that it does not treat vital medical knowledge as commercial properties that only the richest can afford.
Knowledge is the vital element of modern society, we are told-so why do we allow private interests to classify it for decades?
In the meantime, we must also strengthen manufacturing capacity. The public sector does not have to produce all the drugs that our society needs, but in an increasingly unsuccessful world, we need more local capacity. This means a more balanced range of private sector companies involved in drugs, as well as better public sector capacity, we cannot be kept in ransom.
Finally, given the long -term impact that discounts for us and European aid will have health care on a global scale, we should work with world southern countries to help increase their production capacity. In the current state of things, too many nations have been discouraged to meet their local health needs. And we must support them with our know-how, our technology transfer and a different intellectual property model.
We can have a world where everyone has access to the drugs they need. But Trump and Big Pharma will push us in the opposite direction. It’s time for something else.
Politices
