China plays unique role in enhancing global health

By Zhang Liying
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, August 20, 2018
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China is playing a unique role in enhancing global health, said Alex Ng, deputy director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation China Office in an exclusive interview with China.org.cn Saturday.

Alex Ng, deputy director of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation China Office, speaks with China.org.cn on the sidelines of the High-Level Meeting on China-Africa Health Cooperation in Beijing, Aug. 18, 2018. [Photo by Chen Bingran/China.org.cn]

Ng was invited to the High-Level Meeting on China-Africa Health Cooperation held in Beijing on Aug. 17 to 18.

Market failure to work for the poor

Ng said that although infectious diseases still account for more than a quarter of global diseases and constitute the majority of the diseases in most African countries, global investment in R&D and manufacturing of medical products for these diseases makes up only 10 percent of the total.

He called the disproportion a "market failure" caused by the fact that most new medical drugs and tools are developed in the U.S., Japan, and European countries.

"If you were in those countries, you would also develop drugs for chronic diseases," Ng said, adding that the drugs and tools are designed to suit the manufacturer's needs and are very expensive for developing countries.

Ng said that the Gates Foundation, guided by the belief that all lives have equal value, is focusing on fixing the failure to make the markets work for the poor.

"We are impatient optimists working to reduce inequality and create equality around the world, and when the system is operating against the poor, we need to help change it to ensure equality," said Ng.

China's uniqueness in mobilizing medical innovation

Ng said the Gates Foundation has recognized China's unique role in mobilizing medical innovation, working to leverage China's capacity for global health.

He said China's uniqueness comes from its domestic burden of infectious diseases, different pharmaceutical business models from developed markets, as well as quality research and manufacturing capacity -- three factors that no other country has.

According to Ng, though the disease burden in China looks exactly the same as a developed country, where majority of the burden is actually on chronic diseases, China is still challenged by infectious diseases, with 124,000 new HIV cases reported in 2016 and 1 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases each year.

He said when a Chinese drug or diagnostics company develops new products, it will design them to be broadly available and affordable for the country's more than 1.3 billion people, some of whom are not rich.

Ng noted that this is a different business model compared with developed companies, where "the usual strategy is to go for high price."

China also has strong innovation capacity, Ng continued, citing statistics that the country's R&D input is the second largest globally and is expected to surpass the U.S. by 2020.

He added that 426,000 research papers were published in China in 2016, surpassing the U.S. for the first time.

Strengthening cooperation for greater good

The Gates Foundation established its China office in Beijing in 2007. Starting with programs on HIV/AIDS, TB, and tobacco control, the cooperation between China and the foundation has extended beyond traditional public health issues to jointly improving healthcare innovation capacity in the past 11 years, according to Ng.

He said that China and the foundation have been working together to ensure that more Chinese medical products can be developed, approved, and accessed by other countries.

"One case in point is that we support more Chinese products for the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification so they can reach Africa in a timelier manner,"Ngsaid.

He added that the foundation also supports China's medical regulatory reform, working with the National Drug Administration of China to make Chinese drugs safer, more efficacious, and more stringently regulated.

"Our vision is that in five to 10 years, because of a strengthened Chinese regulatory system, Chinese medical products will not need to go through the full WHO prequalification process, which will help the country's medical capacity quickly benefit other developing countries,"Ngsaid.

The Gates Foundation, in Ng's words, is committed to working with China for the long-term goal of unleashing the country's innovation, scientific and manufacturing capacity for the world's greater good.

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