The poor deprived of medicines

 Millions of people in poorer countries, where the risk of drug-resistant infections is highest, are still missing out on key antibiotics. 5.7 million people, mainly in low- and middle-income countries, die from treatable infectious diseases, owing to a lack of access to antibiotics.

 Access to Medicine Foundation, an Amsterdam-based non-profit group, shows that only 54 of 166 medicines and vaccines assessed are covered by an access strategy to make them available to low- and middle-income countries.

Jayasree Iyer, the foundation’s executive director, said: “Those facing the highest risk of infection and the highest rates of drug resistance have the hardest time getting the antibiotics they need.”

Poorer nations still lack access to world’s key antibiotics | Pharmaceuticals industry | The Guardian