​The publication, Global health and the pharmaceutical industry, details the multiple challenges of ill-health caused by poverty and how pharmaceutical companies are playing their part in helping to meet them.

A concerted effort from governments, international organisations, voluntary and private sectors in rich and poor countries to find common goals is vital if further progress is to be made. This means listening to local needs, concentrating funding where it can produce sustainable health improvements and building infrastructure, the report says. Much work needs to be done to break down barriers to healthcare; for example, World Health Organisation statistics show that the Africa region accounts for 24 per cent of the global disease burden but has only three per cent of the world's health workers (WHO World Health Report 2006).

"There is great willingness and commitment from pharmaceutical companies to play a leading role in improving the health of people no matter where they live in the world," said ABPI Director General Dr Richard Barker. "But to make significant progress public and private sector must work closely together to utilise each other's expertise."

NOTE TO EDITORS

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