The Challenges of Providing Affordable Healthcare in Emerging Markets – The Case of Brazil

Abstract

Emerging markets are in the midst of implementing major healthcare reforms. These reforms, however, are much more challenging than in industrialized countries, due to the profound social inequalities common in these markets. Brazil, for example, with one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world, has experimented with a wide range of initiatives to make healthcare more affordable, including the increasing use of generic drugs. This study will discuss the patent/generics debate and how multinational pharmaceutical companies rely on emerging markets to provide a soft lending from the inevitable patent expiration of many of their blockbuster drugs.