$25k competition for campaign to expose failures of high medicine costs
Howard Lake | 3 July 2015 | News
The Public Health programme of the Open Society Foundations is inviting campaigners in Europe to pitch for up to $25,000 to run a public campaign that will challenge the arguments used to justify high drug prices and support the profit-maximising model of pharmaceutical research and development.
The Foundations are particularly keen to hear from campaigners in Spain, Greece and the UK.
Why a campaign?
The Open Society Foundations say that rising prices that threaten equitable access to medicines and treatment are no longer limited to patients in low- and middle-income countries: they are now affecting patients in some of the world’s wealthiest countries, where governments are having to ration treatment.
OSF claim that “the current private, profit-driven and patent-based model of pharmaceutical innovation isn’t achieving what it was designed for: innovation to advance public health”. They point to the launch of “unaffordable” new hepatitis C and cancer treatments.
The Foundations also question why there is still a lack of drugs to treat Ebola and multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.
The Public Health programme is therefore seeking proposals from networks, coalitions and individual organisations who will design and implement a public campaign to challenge this situation and show that anew approach is possible.
It is looking for “creative and courageous ideas that expose the failure of the current profit-based model of pharmaceutical R&D, and highlight the need for an alternative approach”. It is open to a range of suggestions, ranging from public stunts to short-term campaigns.
It expects proposals to seek up to $25,000 for a campaign that would last from 6-12 months. The campaign could start as early as December 2015.
How to apply
Those interested in applying should send a letter of intent of no more than three pages to Azzi Momenghalibaf by 20 July 2015.
Photo: medicine tablets by kowitstockphoto on Shutterstock.com
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.