Countless millions live with debilitating illnesses for the same reason.
According to the World Health Organisation some 2 billion people lack access to basic healthcare - most of these people live in developing countries. There are many factors behind this exclusion, including levels of spending and the state of public health infrastructures - but the price of medicine matters. The poor communities with which Oxfam works consistently cite the high price of medicines as a major problem for them. Rules and Restrictions Under the WTO's patent rules, all member countries are required to provide exclusive marketing rights to holders of patents on pharmaceutical products for a period of at least twenty years. Both Thailand and India are among several developing countries that have established sophisticated generic industries with a specialisation in the development of low-cost equivalents to expensive patented medicines.