For the Many

Trying to fathom the frustration felt by a mother who is unable to afford her child’s life-saving drugs is difficult in the extreme. But during my time with the World Hepatitis Alliance (before I joined the Medicines Patent Pool), I was faced with just that situation. I met a mother who had sold everything she owned to help purchase medicines for her son, but she still had a long way to go to give her child the drugs he so desperately needed.

And it’s far from an isolated case. Over 2 billion people worldwide don’t have sufficient access to essential medicines and health products. Those of us who have been involved in patient advocacy anywhere will not be unfamiliar with the feelings of frustration and failure in not being able to help such patients in meaningful ways. So how do we move forward?