The ICIUM 2011 Access to Medicines track will cover long-standing as well as emerging problems in this area. Abstracts addressing issues related to intellectual property, innovation and production; price negotiation and supply; country initiatives to promote access to medicines; access to new and high-cost medicines; and civil society issues related to access to medicines are welcome.

1 - GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ISSUES

This area will focus on the global initiatives that influence access to medicines in low and middle income countries. This will include research that addresses the impacts of: 

• Intellectual property laws and regulations
  
• Global efforts to incentivize innovation
  
• Global efforts regarding production
  
• The human rights-based approach to medicines policy on equity in medicines access
  
• International initiatives that incentivize or monitor corporate responsibility of pharmaceutical companies in improving access to essential medications in developing countries, including the ATM Index, the Health Impact Fund, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)
  
• Specific programs or initiatives developed by drug companies to improve medicines access

2 - NATIONAL SYSTEMS, PROGRAMS AND POLICIES  

This area will focus on national programs and policies related to medicines access. This will include research on the impacts of: 

• National polices, practices and programs on affordability and availability of medicines and medical supplies
  
• Factors that impact the price of medicines along the entire supply chain
• Rationales underlying medicines price policies (local market characteristics, regulation according to national priorities and public health needs)
  
• Interventions to assure access to medicines and that influence different access dimensions such as availability, geographical accessibility and acceptability of pharmaceutical services. • Price negotiations and interventions to improve supply cycle management and adequate pharmaceutical services
  
• Government or national policies regarding health outcomes; barriers, such as taxes and tariffs on health commodities, and customs procedures; quality standards for medicines and health care

3 - HEALTH CARE AND FINANCING INSTITUTIONS 

This area will focus on medicines policies and programs in national or local institutions that play a major role in improving medicines access. This will include the impacts of: 

• Medicines pricing policies in insurance systems and pre-payment schemes that cover the costs of medications
  
• Initiatives to improve the essential functions of revenue collection, pooling and purchasing in health insurance and care organizations
  
• Vertical or horizontal medicines financing approaches
  
• Drug Therapeutic Committees, hospital and primary care structures and tools for access to medicines, and other approaches needed to

4 - HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS 

This area will focus on access to medicines as determined by health care providers’ behavior. This will include research on: 

• Interventions targeting appropriate prescribing and dispensing of high-quality generic products, in the public and private sectors
  
• Interventions targeting appropriate prescribing and dispensing of new and high cost medicines for neglected diseases, resistant streams of infectious agents, emerging diseases, in the public and private sectors
  
• Human resources for management (pharmacists) and for prescription and rational use (prescribers)
  
• Responsive health service delivery to patients needs, interpersonal staff skills
  
• Health workers income and the level of dependency on drug sales

5 - CONSUMERS, PATIENTS AND COMMUNITY SYSTEMS 

This area will focus on aspects of medicines access and utilization from the consumer or patient perspective. This would include research about: 

• Civil society and community issues related to access to medicines 
• Demand side barriers to access to public and private provision of essential drugs including financial; geographical; cultural barriers and those related to the knowledge of users
  
• Adequacy of medicines provision relative to demands, needs and health seeking behaviors or beliefs
  
• Community initiatives and participatory approaches that aim at, and contribute to, removing access barriers