Access to Medicines (Industrialized World)

Medicines are important for the health, well-being, and overall quality of life of people everywhere. Proper use of medicines can prevent hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and untimely deaths. This is as true in the industrialized world as in the developing world, although the specific drugs required may differ. In the industrialized world, chronic diseases predominate over infectious diseases in both the burden of morbidity and as causes of mortality, and so drugs to treat chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes are particularly important. With over 50 percent of the population of OECD Organisation for Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries reporting being overweight or obese, it is no wonder then that chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, with their associated complications including ...