Universities Allied for Essential Medicines - UK

Universities Allied for Essential Medicines was chosen as a Medsin 'priority campaign' at the 2007 Spring General Assembly. It is now sowing its seed in the UK, after numerous successes reaped in the USA and Canada, and needs your attention!

Access to medicines: What are the issues?

THE ACCESS GAP

Access to already existing treatment could save TEN MILLION lives every year. Failure to provide existing medicines to the poor across the world is in large part due to high drug costs owing to enforced drug patents irrespective of their detrimental effects in extremely poor communities.

THE RESEARCH GAP

Neglected Diseases affecting millions of the world's poorest remain underinvested in, as those suffering from these diseases do not constitute a sufficient market opportunity for commercial research and development. Hence, 90% of the world's medical research is dedicated to 10% of the world's disease burden, in others words, the rich and affluent.

Universities have a critical role in solving these pressing global matters, for the reasons outlined below: Universities' role in research for medicines Universities are major contributors to drug development, making them uniquely positioned to facilitate greater access to the fruits of medical research in developing countries. Universities are public institutions with a dedicated commitment to the public good, meaning the technologies they develop and deploy should be done in an effort to benefit the world and not merely the affluent minority.

How does UAEM propose to tackle these issues?

By campaigning to universities to:

  • Ensure every relevant university-developed drug is licensed with a concrete, effective, transparent strategy to make affordable versions available in developing countries; and
  • Encourage university research on neglected diseases and university licensing practices that facilitate development of promising neglected disease treatments. For more information about our campaign please visit http://www.essentialmedicine.org (http://www.essentialmedicine.org/).

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?

  • Show support for this cause by signing the Philadelphia Consensus Statement
  • To further engage in these issues, please join our newsletter by emailing UAEM and Facebook group
  • Set up a UAEM chapter at a local level to lobby your university in making their research policies more conducive to global health. Please get in contact with UAEM if you wish to set up a chapter so we can support you in doing this.
  • The campaign is seeking dedicated and motivated individuals to join the national working group for UAEM, with the intention of building a network of groups lobbying their universities to alter their research policies. National coordinators will be responsible for organising collective action in colloboration with local branches, as well as maintaining the national structure.

Please e-mail UAEM for more information about applying to the working group. Individuals will have the task of coordinating national projects in addition to supporting local and national action. Though we ask that those applying ideally have some knowledge of global health issues, experience is not a pre-requisite and we welcome applications from anyone with a keen interest, including non-medics.

For more information about UAEM please visit our website UAEM Edinburgh

Our Labs. Our Drugs. Our Responsibility.

The Universities Allied for Essential Medicines - UK campaign exists at

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Last updated on Wednesday 04 March 2009 at 21:00