In 1999, we launched the Access Campaign to speak out and advocate for access to the medicines, vaccines and diagnostics for the people we care for, and beyond. In this episode of MSF Pulse we look at how the Access Campaign has helped increase access to lifesaving treatments.

Script: In the late 1990s the HIV/AIDS crisis was raging in developing countries even though lifesaving treatments were available in wealthy parts of the world.

We were frustrated seeing our patients die from treatable diseases because they couldn’t access the treatment they needed, or because sometimes the needed treatments just didn’t exist.

So, in 1999, we launched the Access Campaign to speak out and advocate for access to the medicines, vaccines and diagnostics for the people we care for, and beyond.

Here is how we increased access to life-saving treatment over the past 20 years:

acilitating generics production 5 to drive down prices

We focused on Prices:

[Drive down Prices]

By encouraging the production of generic versions of lifesaving drugs we helped drive down prices.

We worked to protect space for more producers of affordable generic medicines.

And, we fought hard to challenge the high prices that exclude many children from accessing lifesaving vaccines.



We also had to tackle the problem of drug availability to make sure we could get treatments to the most neglected patients.

[ Drug Availability ]

For example, we worked to bring medicines back into production that pharma corporations had abandoned, or collaborated with partners to increase access to lifesaving tuberculosis treatments.



And finally we have always focused on the patient

[Patient Focus]

We have been pushing for a research agenda that is focused on people’s needs, not corporate profits.

Lastly, we elevated patients’ voices, to put a face to these diseases and to drive change.



Today, many new medicines, vaccines and diagnostics are still too expensive.

Many are not even being developed at all because pharmaceutical corporations still prioritize profit over lives.

And today the high price of medicines is a global problem, not just a problem of developing countries

So, we'll continue to demand change in this system to ensure access to affordable, effective, lifesaving medicines for all.

Twenty years on, our slogan is still as relevant as ever:

‘Medicines Shouldn’t Be a Luxury’


Keywords: access campaign, speak out, access to medicine, vaccines, HIV, Tuberculosis, drugs, affordable medicine, access for children, drug availability