Devex: Opinion: Strong pharmaceutical systems are crucial to attaining UHC
Kwesi Eghan, principal technical adviser at Management Sciences for Health

“…[U]nless country commitments [to universal health coverage (UHC)] include efforts to strengthen pharmaceutical systems, communities will continue to struggle with inadequate health services and rising health costs that put their health and economic well-being in peril. … Laws, policies, and financing arrangements should promote access to health services and quality-assured medicines at a cost that does not put people at risk of financial catastrophe. … Good pharmaceutical management improves cost-efficiencies, too. … [A]ll countries must explicitly recognize that strengthening pharmaceutical systems and management practices to improve access to and affordability of medicines is imperative for achieving UHC. … When the health leaders of every country gather [for the World Health Assembly] in Geneva this May and announce their commitments to making UHC a reality, I hope they will make pharmaceuticals a priority” (5/21).