15 May 2008
A powerful new health alliance could save the lives of more than 10 million poor people every year by 2015. The Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA), launched today by Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander, will help increase access to essential drugs in developing countries.
MeTA represents the coming together of international institutions including the World Health Organization and the World Bank with governments, civil society and business to improve the health of some of the world's most disadvantaged people.
At the launch, Douglas Alexander said:
"Too many people die needlessly because they can’t get the medicines they need. There are currently 2 billion people around the world who do not have access to affordable medical services. A lot of medicines are not affordable, they are of poor quality, or they are simply not available.
"The problems of price, quality and availability can be tackled by improving transparency and access to information. MeTA will provide citizens, health care workers and others with information to challenge corruption, excessive pricing and waste. We now have a common approach and, by working together, millions of lives could be saved."
MeTA commissioned four independent journalists in the alliance's pilot countries to look at some of the issues that it will tackle. Here are their stories:
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