At the September United Nations High-Level Meetings (HLM) on tuberculosis (TB) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), global leaders and experts acknowledged and highlighted some of the most pressing health system challenges and underscored the need for continued innovation.

IP Progress has been shining a light on the complex and multifaceted barriers standing between patients and the medicines they need. Research has underscored the critical demand for comprehensive solutions that address the real barriers to access, like weak health infrastructure, workforce shortages, lack of patient education and poor health financing. The reality of the burden these barriers hold is often overlooked or ignored by some international voices who, time and time again, narrowly look to undermine crucial intellectual protections as a singular, magic bullet “solution” to complex access issues.

To get a first-hand understanding of the most pressing barriers to access from experts working in the field every day, Franklin Cudjoe from the IMANI Center in Ghana and Professor Amir Ullah Khan from Maulana Azad National University in India give context from their experiences.

With one-third of the world’s population lacking access to even the most “essential medicines,” we need to build on existing research from experts like Cudjoe, Khan and others, and support innovative steps the international community can take to reduce this global crisis.