Yet health spending is usually a reflection of wealth and prosperity – the higher the GDP, the higher the percentage of it devoted to healthcare. [...] This volume deals with the consequences of the implemen- tation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intel- lectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in the health care sector. [...] 20 of the 24 drugs were not on the market in Portugal by the time the survey stopped at the end of 1998. [...] Clearly, both the consumer and the supplier are on the same side: for the patient there is a clear need for access to the most innovative and effective medicines, just as for the phar- maceutical companies there needs to be an efficient market to make possible the profits on which the research giving rise to new medicines depends. [...] This is especially true in the complex and difficult area of health care policy.” The complexity and difficulty are exemplified by the two speeches of Professor Friedrich Breyer and Philippe Manière, of which abridged versions are reprinted here.
- Pages
- 6
- Published in
- Belgium
