Nicole Hassoun

July 01 2014 - July 31 2014

Research Topic

Global Health and global Justice

Project Outline

Every year 9 million people are diagnosed with tuberculosis, every day more than 13,400 people are infected with AIDS every 30 seconds malaria kills a child. Many people suffer and die young because they cannot access essential drugs and technologies. Several authors have suggested ways of restructuring the incentives pharmaceutical companies face to encourage them to target their technologies to the poor but the problem remains.

During my stay at the Center for Advanced Studies I will be working on a book that proposes, and considers the prospects for, a new package of Global Health Impact labeling, investment, and licensing strategies that encourage pharmaceutical companies to improve poor peoples’ access to essential drugs and technologies. The basic idea is to rate pharmaceutical companies based on how their policies impact global health. The best companies, in a given year, will then be Global Health Impact certified. Highly rated companies will be given a Global Health Impact label to use on all of their products – everything from pet vitamins to mouthwash. Socially responsible investment companies and universities might also take the ratings into account in deciding where to place their investments or license their products. This book explores this proposal, its philosophical justification, and its prospects for success.