Impact of the European Union on access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review.

ABSTRACT: This Scoping Review synthesises evidence of the impacts of European Union (EU) law, regulation, and policy on access to medicines in in non-EU low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and the mechanisms and nature of those impacts. We searched eight scholarly databases and grey literature published between 1995-2021 in four languages. The EU exerts global influence on pharmaceuticals in LMICs in three ways: explicit agreements between EU-LMICs (ex. accession, trade, and economic agreements); LMICs' reliance on EU internal regulation, standards, or methods (ex. market authorisation); 'soft' forms of EU influence (ex. research funding, capacity building). This study illustrates that EU policy makers adopt measures with the potential to influence medicines in LMICs despite limited evidence o

SUBMITTER: Perehudoff K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8513155 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature