Think about the need to support further innovation, and simultaneously increase availability of existing medicines at affordable prices.
Links
Links
Tips
Understand the process of drug research and development (cost, time, energy)
Find a balance between access to medicine and encouraging R&D (research and development)
Only include information that is relevant
Come up with a practical recommendation or solution that applies to your country, but can also be expanded to other countries
Questions to consider
Is your country known for being a more wealthy country or a more impoverished country?
Does your country produce a lot of name brand drugs, how about generic drugs? Which does it produce more of? What is the status of any patents your country may have?
Is there a pharmaceutical lobbyist in your country?
Is there a lot of research and development of drugs in your country?
What are some examples of brand name or generic drugs that are made or commonly used in your country?
What are some of the major illnesses that affect your country? Are they communicable or non-communicable? Are drugs commonly and effectively used to combat them?
How is your country involved with WHO?
Who are some of the big players (countries) involved in generic drugs? What opinions would you expect them to have?
What are some other countries that may have an effect on your country?
Is it difficult for people to afford drugs in your country? How about the ones they really need? How much do these drugs cost compared to how much money the average person in your country lives off of daily?
Why is generic drugs an important topic to the United Nations (and to the world in general)?
Why is the topic of generic drugs important to your country, specifically?
What are the actions your country has taken on a nation level to address the problem?
What are the actions your country has taken on an international level to address the problem?
What are the recommendations for WHO, which will be what you want to see in the resolutions at the end of the debate?
Documents
Videos
Hello Mr.Azriel:
ReplyDeleteDo yo know any website with specific information about the support of one country on generic or brand drugs? We are having troubles deciding if our country supports generic or brand drugs
Thanks
Thanks for the question! As we mentioned in class last Thursday, the topic of generic drugs is very complicated. It requires analyzing the balance between access to medicine and protecting intellectual property. Because this topic is so complicated (and controversial!), you are not going to find a website where it directly says whether your country supports generic drugs or not. That would be way too easy!
DeleteWhat I would recommend you do is to try and do enough research to answer all of the questions in the "questions to consider" section of this blog post. Once you do that, you will have a good idea of how important generic drugs and/or brand name drugs are to your country. From there, you will write your position paper. Remember, you are writing this paper from the perspective of your country! You have to pretend you are this country and really try and imagine how this topic would affect you. For the people living in your country, this topic is VERY real and has real consequences on their lives. At the same time, you are writing the position paper as if you are talking directly to the UN, so please be sensitive to all sides of the issue.
I hope that helps clarify some things! If you have any other questions, do not hesitate to ask. Good luck =)
Hi Mr.Azriel, how do we know if our country produces more brand name or generic drugs? Thanks
ReplyDeleteA google search of "pharma companies in (your country)" should give you a list or at least some sort of information about the top pharmaceutical companies in your country. From there, you can google these companies to find out if they produce more brand name or generic drugs.
Deletehello Mr Azriel, i´d like to know what relationship does pharmaceutical lobbyists have with generic/brand name drugs?
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_lobby
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the mission goals of each pharmaceutical lobbyist group. However, the majority of the time, pharmaceutical lobbyists groups work to protect the interests of brand name drug companies. That means that they will go around and try and pass laws and change public opinion in order to help brand name drug companies make more money. They play a big role in the generic drug debate. Check out this link to learn a little more detail about the topic (it discusses the drug lobby in the US):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/auction-2012-drug-companies-lobby_n_1245543.html
Do we have to do a work cited page?
ReplyDeleteYes, I would like to know where you have gotten your information. Thanks!
Delete