The right to health and access to treatment

Preventable illnesses are one of the main reasons why many people in developing countries still find themselves living in poverty. Illness results in being absent from work which means that parents do not earn enough to pay for their children’s schooling; due to illness, economic productivity also declines. Moreover, when public health services are fee-paying and health insurance companies barely competent, whole households are plunged into debt and dependence because of the costs they face for treatment and medication.

Not only is health a foundation for economic development, it is also a basis for a humane existence. Being healthy is essential for a good quality of life. The World Health Organization (WHO) Constitution from 1948 stipulates that the right to health is a right to the highest possible level of health. In the Declaration of Alma-Ata from 1978, the right to health for all was first made explicit. It underlined a definition of health which not only encompasses the mere absence of illness, infirmity and disability, but also social well-being. This includes, for example, the certainty and assurance with which each person can access basic healthcare at all times.

In conjunction with The Right to Health for All, the question of access to medication for poor people in developing countries in particular has taken center stage with regard to development policy in recent years. Well-known international non-governmental organizations such as Médécins sans Frontières and OXFAM promote accessible prices, particularly for life-saving medication (HIV/AIDS; Malaria, TB, etc.), to facilitate the attainment of health for people in developing countries.

The fact that the price of patented, life-saving medication plays an important role in the attainment of treatment for poor people from developing countries is without dispute. The ways in which Novartis contributes to solving this problem are, for example, issuing medication against leprosy free of charge, providing the anti-malaria drug Coartem for developing countries at cost price and setting up a research institute for tropical diseases. However, the problem of access to medical care goes much further. Despite the fact that approximately 95% of the basic drugs listed in the most recent WHO Essential Drugs List are patent-free and therefore cost-effective, they are still unavailable locally in many countries in the southern hemisphere, or are ineffectual. This highlights the impact of other contributory factors. The problem regarding the attainment of medication cannot be viewed in isolation by international and national development and health policies or by health system management. The availability of a comprehensive system of functional healthcare facilities and services adapted to the local environment play as important a role, alongside the cost of treatment and medication, as the competence of the healthcare workers, the distribution system as well as the rational use and quality of the medication, and the financing system of the health service.

In conjunction with our partners, our initiative in combating leprosy and providing basic medical care attempts to account for this complexity and show sustainable solution processes. Through integrated, innovative measures, we are making an improvement in the attainment of diagnoses and treatment for poor people in developing countries: these include training healthcare workers, the provision of adequate facilities and buildings, setting up a health insurance scheme and a social marketing campaign aimed at changing attitudes towards health. Our project is committed to encouraging those people affected to improve their quality of life and to make a greater contribution to their social and economic development.