Topic: Insuring Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals
Country: Bolivia
Delegate Name: Rose Henkin
School: Ann Arbor Community High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Bolivia position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
Bolivia, being one of the least developed countries in South America, and ranked almost last in terms of health in the Western Hemisphere, recognizes the need for affordable access to pharmaceuticals. With 62.7% of our population living under the poverty line, Bolivia is in dire need of medicines that are more easily attainable. The limited access to primary healthcare is a factor contributing to the poor health of our developing country. The use of holistic medicine is on the rise as an alternative to traditional Western medicine, because the majority of Bolivia’s population have not insurance nor the financial resources to pay for pharmaceuticals.
Bolivia recognizes that aside from the socioeconomic barriers, the topography of the country also contributes to the limited physical access of medicines. Health care planners in Bolivia are striving to use geographic information systems technology to assess physical access to primary health care. In 2007 the World Health Organization reported that 26% of Bolivia’s population was covered by health insurance–the only way to get proper pharmaceuticals. The demands of 5-10% of the Bolivian population were met by the private sector, which left around 70% relying on the public sector. It was reported that only around half of those relying on the public sector had their needs met, which left 36% of the population with no coverage or access to medicine whatsoever.
AIS and CODEDCO are two organizations focused on Bolivia’s public health and are committed to promote access to essential medicines. In April 2008 Bolivia was part of a proposal concerning the needs of developing countries in relation to Type 1 diseases–in this case cancer in particular. The percentage of deaths due to cancer in all developing countries is 11.5% and is expected to increase to 16.3% by 2030. As a member of the WHO Bolivia urges countries to see this as an incentive to make accessibility to medicines and vaccines easier. Bolivia is willing to work with countries in similar socioeconomic situations to improve the access to pharmaceuticals to their own countries, because they similarly know the difficulty in affording medicine.
