Assessment of Global Pharmaceutical and Medical Product Donations – Do they Help or Hinder Public Health's Capacity to Provide Access to Drugs?

Product donations from the pharmaceutical and medical products industries to NGOs in destinations where poverty or crisis or a less than optimal health system result in limited drug access have been ongoing since as early as the 1950s when Eli Lilly donated products to an NGO. There has not been a systematic review of medical product donations since 1999, although they have continued and the volume and dollar value has flourished to a multi- billion per year industry. The industry began as a result of excess product inventory, when and if available, but as such donations are not a reliable source of supply. Pharmaceutical and medical supply corporate philanthropy has evolved to include program types in addition to excess inventory, including "produce-to-give", annual allotment and signature programs such as the Merck Mectizan program. Based on a literature review and donor information, the key elements of program types will be analyzed to consider how these programs help or hinder drug access at programmatic, national and global levels. Other factors impede the ability of donations to provide access to drugs, such as customs duties, product registration requirements, the nature of incentives such as public relations and tax deductions, lack of quantification and specification by recipients. Policy implications call for national and international regulatory solutions and a shift in corporate philanthropic policies. The session will briefly review the current WHO Guidelines on Medical Product Donations and recommend policy changes to the Guidelines to cover vaccines, and bio-engineered and genetic medical products.