Global Health Progress Commends European Union and India Agreement Increasing Access to Drugs in Developing Countries

    WASHINGTON, DC, December 17, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- According to a Reuter's article, the European Union (EU) and India have come to an agreement which should ease the process of exporting Indian drug manufacturers' medicines to developing countries, increasing these countries' access to drugs.

Karel De Gucht, commissioner of the European Union (EU) has confirmed an agreement between the EU and India that will resolve some of the disputes that lead to the seizure of generic drugs in transit last year. This agreement will allow shipments of medication to pass through Europe to developing nations without being checked for anything except counterfeiting.

The new agreement will also amend custom codes allowing shipments of medications from India to reach countries located in South America via Europe. The confirmation comes amid trade talks between the EU and India.

Global Health Progress commends the agreements between the European Union and India, which will increase access to drugs, primarily generic medication, for underdeveloped countries. This process affects the affordability of generic medications to underdeveloped countries which fight the prominence of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria.

Since the 1960s, the philanthropic efforts of research-based biopharmaceutical companies have worked to get medicines to the people that need them the most. In 2005, biopharmaceutical companies responded to requests with more than $3 billion in medical products donated worldwide.

GHP aids in providing millions of doses of anti-retroviral drugs at discounted prices and, in some cases, for free to patients in developing countries. These donation programs for Least Developed Countries and sub-Saharan Africa, together with programs for lower and middle income countries, apply to more than 87 percent of all people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

About Global Health Progress:

Global Health Progress also supports efforts to raise awareness and mobilize resources to address health challenges in the developing world by bringing local leaders together with international health experts, policymakers, donor governments, and the private sector. www.globalhealthprogress.org, http://twitter.com/globalhealth, www.facebook.com/pages/Global-Health-Progress/124850684219049, www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2972068

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