Access to medicines in the context of the right-to-health framework 2013, para. 60
Paragraph- Paragraph text
- Numerous stakeholders perceive unethical commercial marketing and promotion of medicines by pharmaceutical companies as a serious concern. Billions of dollars are spent by the pharmaceutical industry on marketing through sales representatives, samples and advertising. Doctors are offered gifts under the pretext of continued medical education. Multinational pharmaceutical companies have been fined for promoting unapproved medicines, with little impact on their practices. Unethical promotion negatively affects the prescribing patterns of doctors, who would then tend to prescribe less rationally and to quickly adopt new medicines. Prescribers consequently obtain information on medicines from pharmaceutical companies, rather than consulting STGs. During the consultations, some States pointed to the existence of voluntary national industry codes to address pharmaceutical promotion. However, these have been criticized as ineffective. The Special Rapporteur recommends formulating strong enforceable regulatory systems, with accountability measures, to discourage unethical marketing and promotion of medicines by pharmaceutical companies.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Other
- Reference
- SR Health, Report to the HRC (2013), A/HRC/23/42, para. 60.
- Paragraph number
- 60
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