GU Hosts Symposium, Seeking Pharmaceutical Reform

On World AIDS Day, Georgetown hosted a symposium on pharmaceuticals and global health in the Davis Performing Arts Center.

The discussion was based on a proposal entitled “Making New Medicine Accessible for All: The Health Impact Fund.” Published by Incentives for Global Health, a nonprofit organization, the plan focuses on the question of how to create incentives for the pharmaceutical industry and how to produce high-impact drugs for those who would not ordinarily be able to afford them.

Along with the leading authors, Thomas Pogge, a professor at Yale University, and Aidan Hollis, a professor at the University of Calgary, the several-hour-long event on Monday, which was hosted by university President John J. DeGioia and Pogge, featured panelists from the government, academic and private sectors.

The plan proposes giving drug companies the choice to either exercise normal patent rights for the product or register it with the HIF. If the firm chooses to register with the HIF, it would receive payment based on the global health impact of the drug.

“If [the HIF proposal] succeeds, I think there is reason to believe that it would be regarded by many people abroad as a wonderful example of Americans acting in a selfless way to try to promote global public health,” said John Osborn, a member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, which assesses government activities in relation to the international public.

Osborn also cited the reputation of the drug industry as a factor in companies potentially coordinating with the HIF. He referred to a 2006 Harris poll, which ranked the pharmaceutical industry as number two in a list of industries most deserving of stronger regulation. The poll also stated that only seven percent of all U.S. adults trust statements made by the drug industry.

“Drug companies — it’s no secret — are right now struggling with their rather low reputation,” Osborn said.

However, according to Lawrence Gostin, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, the drug industry is just a part of a larger picture.

“Treatment is only a very, very small part of what makes a core population healthy,” Gostin said. “Focusing on what we at Georgetown call basic survival needs, or the [United Nations calls the Millennium Development Goals, may be even more important if you really want to make an impact on health.”