Global experts discuss challenges, possibilities around antibiotics becoming a global public good

Global experts discuss challenges, possibilities around antibiotics becoming a global public good

Subject :Science and Tech

Section: Health 

The Antibiotic Webinars series:

• Conducted by: Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
• Objective: To discuss the challenges and possibilities around antibiotics or any aspect of antimicrobial resistance becoming a global public good.
• Outcome of the webinar:
  • There is a need for critical reforms to stimulate the antibiotic innovation ecosystem for a sustainable and equitable antibiotic access.
  • To explore the possibility of considering antibiotics as a ‘global public good’ so that they are treated differently from other drugs in terms of resource and development and access.
• Global public good (GPG):
  • A global public good is understood as being non-rival (if one person consumes it, this does not reduce its availability to others) and non-excludable (no one can be denied access).
• Common goods:
  • As per the World Health Organization, ‘common goods for health’ are public goods or have large social externalities and thus will not arise through market forces alone. Therefore, they require both public financing and public action.
• Global functions:
  • It captures the broad array of activities critical in preparing for and responding to transnational challenges. These include supplying global public goods, managing cross border externalities (such as AMR response) and exercising leadership.
• Financial models that can be used for antibiotics:
  • Pull incentives like subscription models and prize models (such as a “milestone prize” during clinical development or an end-stage prize / market exclusivity reward for a product when it comes to market).
  • Push incentives like Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARD-P).

Concern over labeling antibiotics as global public goods:

• Issue of patents and copyright
• Increasing Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
• Increased wastage of antibiotics
• ‘Tragedy of the commons’ (if anything is free people will tend to overuse it) and ‘free rider problem’ (those who benefit from resources, do not pay for them or under-pay.)

Source: DownToEarth