This afternoon, 35 Emerging Leaders across all cohorts from 2014 to 2018 united to discuss the research and implementation of key projects around the topical theme of Access to Essential Medicines, featuring at events around this year’s World Congress of Cardiology.
Three different research teams focused on health systems, health policy and implementation presented their findings and discussed and debated the challenges and opportunities to apply their learning across other further initiatives.
The GLOPRO team focus their research on Essential Medicines Lists (EML’s) and specifically to petition new medicines on national EMLs specifically in India and Zimbabwe. As a second phase this team want to better understand and map LICs, LMICs and UMICs with no priority CVD essential medicine in EMLs. This research offers so much potential to further expand and consider possible recommendations on how to strengthen processes for improved access to essential medicines.
The HAVE Meds team investigate the affordability and accessibility to essential medicines in Mozambique and using an affordabiltiy scale of less than one day’s wage to purchase 1 month’s supply of medicines, almost all CVD medications are either unaffordable or unaffordable and unavailable in local context.
The CLUB Meds team described their adherence to medication research in Nigeria. Using a qualitative study of focus groups and interviews, the team described their collection of research across nine different adherence ‘clubs’, and the data that can assist patients to adhere to hypertension medication within limited resource settings.
