Dr. Theron Pummer, Lecturer in Philosophy and Co-Director of the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at the University of St. Andrews, is celebrating his birthday by raising money for four highly effective charities working to improve the health of people living in extreme poverty, including Incentives for Global Health (IGH). IGH is sister organization to ASAP, which supports its Health Impact Fund initiative. ASAP President Thomas Pogge has agreed to match donations dollar-for-dollar up to $7,000, and at a discounted rate beyond that. The fundraiser ends at the end of September. As of September 4, Theron had already raised $4,092 towards his $7,000 goal.
This one-time matching gift challenge makes September a great time to donate to IGH. Whether or not you know Theron, you can donate today and have your gift to IGH and other high-impact charities go twice as far.
In the last twenty years, extensive and uniform protections of intellectual property rights (IPRs) have been incorporated into the global trading system through initiatives such as the WTO\’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. Under this IPR regime, the development of new medicines is driven by the reward of high prices facilitated by temporary market exclusivity. While this method of incentivizing research has produced important innovations, it has also engendered unfortunate consequences. When a new medicine is protected from generic competition, its profit-maximizing price inevitably excludes a large proportion of the world\’s population, even in affluent countries such as Canada. As a result of this system of incentives, people suffer and die needlessly as the medicines they need are out of their reach, and research is focused on medicines that can be sold at high prices, rather than on those that would lead to the greatest improvements in human health.
An online educational analogue to the Health Impact Fund is currently being developed by Gordon Brown, the UN Special Envoy for Global Education, to provide free primary secondary, and tertiary education courses that would be universally accessible in developed and developing countries.
Global health and academic impact on poverty were the discussed during the second day of Human Rights & Economic Justice: Essential Elements of the Post-MDG Agenda at Yale this Saturday.
In this article, we outline reasons why researchers and teachers should want to join Academics Stand Against Poverty, and we discuss the kinds of impact gains that might be realized through collaboration in the ASAP network.
At present, the development of new medicines is driven by the reward of temporary market exclusivity. When a new medicine is protected from generic competition, its profit-maximizing price inevitably prevents a large proportion of the world\’s population, including many in affluent countries, from purchasing it. As a result of this incentive system, (1) people suffer and die needlessly, and (2) research is focused on those medicines from which investors can make the most money, rather than on those that would lead to the greatest improvements in human health.
The Health Impact Fund would help to reduce all these problems.
The HIF, proposed by the non-profit organization Incentives for Global Health, would be financed by governments and offers patentees the option to forego monopoly pricing in exchange for a reward based on the health impact of their medicine. By registering a patented medicine with HIF, the firm would agree to sell it at cost. In exchange, the firm would receive, for a fixed amount of time, supplementary payments based on the products assessed health impact. Registering with the fund would be optional, and the fund would not diminish patent rights.
Currently, IGH is in talks with various pharmaceutical companies and governments regarding pilot projects that would test the HIF proposal from every angle.
Pilots will:
Test the ability of reimbursement based on health impact to create sufficient incentive for firms to invest in activities that increase impact.
Identify challenges for reliably evaluating health impact in a marketed setting in a manner that can be calibrated directly to reimbursement to the innovator.
Clarify the minimum for required variables to measure impact across different populations and medicines.
If you are interested in getting involved with Incentives for Global Health, contact Jake Hirsch-Allen at jakehirschallen@gmail.com.
ASAP established its Canadian chapter with a three-day intensive workshop at Ryerson University in downtown Toronto. More than 300 participants from 30 North American universities attended the event entitled: \”Beyond 2015: Towards a New Consensus on Ending Global Poverty\”. It focused on the current process for replacing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the global agreement to reduce poverty and related deprivations, which will expire in 2015. The workshop featured some of the world\’s most prominent poverty researchers, as well as representatives of leading poverty NGOs and civil servants. They were united by the concern that the new international agreement superseding the MDGs make good on the promise of ending world poverty.
\”We had a fantastic turnout and some really thoughtful, engaged dialogue with the speakers,\” said lead organizer Mitu Sengupta, an ASAP Board member and Associate Professor of Political Science at Ryerson. \”We all look forward to building on the conference momentum and developing a vibrant ASAP chapter in Canada.\”
In these remarks, Thomas Pogge introduces Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP), explaining its motivation and goals as they relate to global poverty.
Day 1, Panel 1: Growth, Inequality, and Unemployment
This panel examines general strategies for global poverty eradication. The discussion focuses on strategies for tackling inequality, ensuring inclusive growth, and creating employment. Chaired by Roberta Rice, University of Toronto at Scarborough.
Randy Spence, Economics and Social Development Associates (at 59:50)
Day 1, Panel 2: Reforming Governance and Institutions – Connecting the Local with the Global
The two sessions that comprise this panel examine general strategies for global poverty eradication, recognizing poverty as a global problem that requires responses not only at the national level but also at the global level.
Session 1 – Chaired by Anil Varughese, Carleton University
These remarks begin a series of panels that examine general strategies for global poverty eradication. The focus of Thomas Pogge and Gilad Tanay’s remarks is on reforming global institutions and the supranational rules that perpetuate global poverty and inequality.
Day 2, Panel 1: Replacing the Millennium Development Goals
This panel examines specific strategies for influencing the MDG replacement process, emphasizing consensus building within the academic community. Chaired by Gilad Tanay, Yale University.
Day 2, Panel 2: Curbing Illicit Financial Flows as an International Development Goal
In this panel, speakers discuss the significance of illicit financial flows as a factor contributing to the persistence of global poverty, along with possible solutions at both the global and national levels. Chaired by Melissa Williams, University of Toronto.
Speakers:
Raymond Baker, Global Financial Integrity (at 00:00)
Day 3, Panel 1: Innovation and Access to Medicines
This panel examines how innovations might be stimulated through an alternative scheme under which innovators could sell their product at cost in exchange for publicly funded reward payments proportional to the product’s measured benefits.
Day 3, Panel 2: Consultations with Civil Society Groups and Community Leaders
In this panel, representatives of the non—profit sector identify problems, propose solutions, and offer insight, expertise, and advice to the academics, students, aid practitioners and policymakers attending the workshop. The discussion focuses on the role of civil society and community organizations in global poverty alleviation and their thoughts about linking local issues and struggles with those that are transnational or global in focus. Chaired by Lisa Mills, Carleton University.
Members of ASAP jump start an open group discussion by discussing the role that students can play in ASAP. Chaired by Melanie Adrian, Carleton University.
Professor Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosopy and International Affairs at Yale, is a political philosopher who has published widely on Kant and in moral and political philosophy, including books on John Rawls and global justice. His book World Poverty and Human Rights is widely regarded as one of the most important works on global justice. Professor Pogge talks about a non-profit organization he leads called Incentives for Global Health and its new flagship proposal the Health Impact Fund (HIF). The HIF offers an innovative way of stimulating research and development of new medicines in order to provide them to patients — especially those in the developing world — at low prices.
Dr. Theron Pummer, Lecturer in Philosophy and Co-Director of the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at the University of St. Andrews, is celebrating his birthday by raising money for four highly effective charities working to improve the health of people living in extreme poverty, including Incentives for Global Health (IGH). IGH is sister organization to ASAP, which supports its Health Impact Fund initiative. ASAP President Thomas Pogge has agreed to match donations dollar-for-dollar up to $7,000, and at a discounted rate beyond that. The fundraiser ends at the end of September. As of September 4, Theron had already raised $4,092 towards his $7,000 goal.