ACCESS TO MEDICINES
Due to the rising prices of expensive medicines, access to medicines is increasingly becoming a problem, even in high-income countries like the Netherlands. This trend undermines the financial sustainability of the health system and hence compromises the right to health and equal opportunities for leading a healthy life.
Within this programme, we analyse the functioning of the system of medicines development, identify flaws in the system, and propose relevant (policy) changes, so that everyone, everywhere has access to high-quality, affordable medicines that meet their medical needs.
We push for Dutch and European policy makers to take a critical stance on medicine prices, transparency and public return on public investments. It is our intention that more EU Member States will support Dutch efforts to address the increasing prices of expensive medicines and look for policy options to counter this trend.
On the global level, we aim for the World Health Organization to fulfil its leading role in addressing the challenge of high drug prices worldwide, for example by proposing fair pricing models and by addressing the issue with Member States in a framework.
Thanks to our strong track record on access to medicines, we can rely on strong networks and good working relationships with various policy makers and politicians, both at Dutch and EU-level.