"Big pharma attempts to cast off bad reputation by targeting the poor", 25 June 2015

…AZ [AstraZeneca]’s Healthy Heart Africa programme, which aims to reach 10 million hypertensive patients across Sub-Saharan Africa by boosting healthcare infrastructure, is not the only example of the [pharmaceutical] industry attempting a more enlightened approach. Novo Nordisk [part of Novo Group]’s Buddy Doctor Initiative…provides local diabetes experts as mentors for GPs in 14 African countries…The latest Access to Medicine Index of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies’ efforts in developing countries describes an industry “doing increasingly more to improve access to medicine in developing countries … paying attention to socioeconomic factors such as people’s ability to pay”… However, not everyone is convinced. Rohit Malpani…[from] Médecins Sans Frontières…believes “it is an industry that is continuing to fail to meet needs [and continuing with] very high costs for new medicines.”…Perhaps the most enlightening aspect of the AZ programme in Kenya is how low prices can form part of a sustainable business model…[Also refers to Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline]