Global Health Progress

Response by the companies of the worldwide research-based biopharmaceutical industry

We, the research-based biopharmaceutical industry,

• Applaud efforts to increase attention on HIV/TB co-infections and support the Forum’s goal of achieving a unified international position on the accelerated and intensified action needed to respond to the deadly HIV-TB joint epidemic;
• Acknowledge the leadership of the organizations convening the HIV TB Global Leaders Forum on June 9, 2008 including President Jorge Sampaio, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Stop TB, the WHO, the Stop TB Partnership, UNAIDS, the Global Fund, the World Bank and the European Commission;
• Share concerns of HIV TB co-infections and recognize our unique role as inventors of drugs, its testing and manufacturing;
• Underscore the need to involve the private sector, especially the research-based biopharmaceutical industry, in collaborative efforts at global health discussions and call for strengthened cooperation between the private sector, government officials, international organizations, non-government organizations, and local leaders;
• Refer to the Global Business Coalition and Booz Allen Hamilton summary report on fighting HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) epidemics in emerging market economies, “A Global Consensus on Partnership”. This report recommended a roadmap to maximizing the public-private partnerships to fight HIV/AIDS. The report identifies public-private partnerships as an underutilized key resource in setting out a positive track to tackled HIV/AIDS pandemic;
• Acknowledge the complex barriers faced by patients, especially in developing countries, and reaffirm our commitment to continue in the fight until disease is eradicated.

Submitted in response to the Call for Action on HIV TB by Stop TB Partnership.

Further information:

Research-based biopharmaceutical companies and associations are deeply committed to progress in global health, some examples include:

• Funding and support for four global R&D centers in Singapore, Spain, India and the United States that develop new medicines to combat TB.
• Work with more than 30 partners around the world to accelerate the discovery and development of new cost-effective drugs for TB. Key partnerships include groups such as WHO to improve TB patients’ access to and use of critical medications.

Global Health Progress, an initiative to bring research-based biopharmaceutical companies, global health leaders and policymakers together to build on current partnerships in continuing efforts to improve health in the developing world. Global Health Progress aims to leverage strengths of the private sector to help further access to medicines; build capacity of health workers in developing nations; advocate for global action to address health challenges; and continue research and development to find new tools to fight the diseases that plague the developing world. For more information, please visit www.globalhealthprogress.org.

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