United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Low income families set to get new medicine deal

Citation

(2009), "United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Low income families set to get new medicine deal", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 22 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2009.06222fab.007

United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Low income families set to get new medicine deal

Article Type: News and views From: International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Volume 22, Issue 6

Keywords: Healthcare access, Healthcare equality, Public healthcare, Chronic disease management

French drug giant Sanofi Aventis is in talks with the UAE’s Ministry of Health to introduce a tiered pricing policy for its diabetes drugs, in an attempt to widen access among the country’s lower-income residents.

Dr Robert Sebbag, vice president of the firm’s Access to Medicines programme, said the proposed plan would see poorer residents, such as labourers, receive discounted diabetes treatments, while the remainder of the population paid market price.

“We are thinking for chronic diseases, such as diabetes, offering a different price according to the income of the population,” he said.

“It is an option for the migrant population in the UAE and I’m sure other poorer people who are uninsured and have chronic diseases but little or no access to drugs.”

The scheme could also be rolled out across Saudi Arabia, he added.

Diabetes has been branded the UAE’s top public health issue, with one in four residents thought to have the disease. At 19.5 percent, the country’s adult incidence of diabetes is surpassed only by Nauru, a south Pacific island.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi-GCC Health and Development Investment Forum, Dr Sebbag said low-income residents would be able to apply for the discounted drugs through the ministry.

However, he warned revenue would need to stay high across the market to subsidise the cut-price plan.

“We cannot jeopardise the normal product. To facilitate this sort of policy, you need profit in one side and a no-profit, no-loss price for the rest of the [poorer] population,” he said. “Drug donation is not a sustainable solution.”

The scheme is an extension of Sanofi’s policy in third-world countries, whereby cut-price drug treatments are made available for deadly diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis.

An estimated 80 percent of the world’s population has little or no access to basic medication, according to World Health Organisation data.

Sanofi, France’s largest drug-maker, signed a deal with the UAE’s Ministry of Health in March that signalled the start of a three-year campaign to fight diabetes.

The firm pledged to invest $12 million in tackling the country’s soaring incidence rate, and in raising awareness of the disease.

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