$25k competition for campaign to expose failures of high medicine costs

Howard Lake | 3 July 2015 | News

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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

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.