Affordable access to medicine and adequate healthcare on a global scale is possible, but it is often hindered by disorganization, inefficiency, and a shortage of human resources. It is just such problems that leave many people all over the world in need of professional medical attention and without a feasible way to obtain it. There are organizations around the world, such as Clinton Health Access Initiative, or CHAI, that work specifically toward combating the organizational issues within the global medicine supply.
CHAI helps to promote and maintain access to sufficient long-term medical care for those in underprivileged nations in a number of ways. Each and every year several billion dollars is spent on developing medications, vaccinations, and other medical supplies for use in low- and middle-income countries.
However, it will all go to waste if the country is without a well-established and organized medical system and/or does not have enough knowledgeable manpower to administer the supplies. Working directly with local governments, global pharmaceutical companies, and even their own medical laboratories, CHAI aims to improve the efficiency of local health networks to maximize access and minimize cost without lowering the quality of the care of provided.
Lower-income countries with high rates of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis cases are better able to provide the necessary treatment for such diseases, in addition to many others. Just as treatment for already-present cases is important, prevention is also high priority for CHAI and its ultimate goals. Providing vaccinations for avoidable diseases and closely monitoring the children of infected mothers helps to reduce the spread of serious illnesses. Through the efforts of Clinton’s health provision project, various health care programs all over the world now have the capacity to care for large volumes of individuals with a variety of medical needs, and all at drastically reduced costs.