Tropical pill
• 1,393 new medicines were marketed between 1975-1999. Only 1.14 per cent were for tropical diseases and tuberculosis
• The global disease burden of these tropical diseases is more than 10 per cent
• For non-infectious respiratory diseases (prevalent more in higher income countries) pharmaceutical companies spent US $307 million per one million DALYs - a measure of how dreaded the diseases is. Only US $3 million was spent on tropical diseases in contrast
• There is a 13 fold greater chance of a medicine for central nervous system disorders or cancer being brought to market than for neglected tropical diseases like dengue and malaria
• All the 13 medicines for tropical diseases, such as malaria, marketed between 1975-1999 were listed on the World Health Organisation's 'Essential Drugs List'. Only two per cent of the the rest 1,393 (essentially 'non-essential drugs') found their way to the list
• According to the US National Institute of Health, taxpayer-funded scientists conducted 55 percent of the research projects that led to the discovery and development of the global top five selling drugs in 1995
• Investment in research for malaria, a major tropical disease, at US $42 per fatal case, is more than 80 times lower than that for HIV/AIDS and 20 times lower than that for asthma
Sources: 1. Patrice Trouiller et al 2002, 'Drug development for neglected diseases: a deficient market and a public-health policy failure', Lancet 2002; Vol 359 p2188-94
2. Anon, www.citizen.org/congress/reforms/index.htm, as seen on July 18, 2002