Open Society Institute

Every country in the world is supposed to have an up-to-date list of essential medicines - basic drugs that should be available to all through the public health service. In Africa though, the reality is that drugs are often out of stock in health clinics. In some cases it's a few drugs for a few days, in others almost no drugs are available for months. A group of NGOs from east and southern Africa met in Nairobi this week to formulate a campaign to demand 100% access and availability to all.