The Open Society Public Health Program is calling for letters of intent from creative campaigners in Europe—in particular Spain, Greece, and the United Kingdom—who will devise and carry out engaging public actions that will challenge the dominant public narratives that justify high drug prices and the profit-maximizing model of pharmaceutical research and development (R&D).

Purpose and Priorities

Until recently, most people considered the price of medicines to be a problem limited to patients in low- and middle-income countries. But rising prices are threatening equitable access to treatment even in the world’s wealthiest countries. There is increasing recognition that the current private, profit-driven and patent-based model of pharmaceutical innovation isn’t achieving what it was designed for: innovation to advance public health.

Growing public debate about drug prices, sparked in part by the launch of unaffordable new hepatitis C and cancer treatments, has resulted in some of the world’s wealthiest countries having to ration treatment. The lack of drugs to treat Ebola or deadly multidrug resistant bacterial infections beg the question: why do these critical medical needs remain unmet despite significant public and private investments into pharmaceutical R&D? While the prevailing public narrative is that we live in an era of unprecedented medical progress, the large majority of new medicines developed have no added therapeutic value beyond what already exists.

With health costs rising and government budgets straining, countries across Europe are grappling in unprecedented ways with the prices of medicines. We believe that now is the time and Europe is the place for bold and creative activism to shake the imagination, spark conversation, and show that a new approach is possible. Both policy makers and the public at large are either not sufficiently aware that the current way we get new medicines is overly expensive while delivering too little medical value, or they believe the current system is our only option.

We are looking for creative and courageous ideas that expose the failure of the current profit-based model of pharmaceutical R&D, and highlight the need for an alternative approach. Actions may include public stunts, or short-term campaigns, and more—we want you to bring your creativity and experience to bear.

 

Financial & Grants Management

Budget Preparation	Steps to be taken while Applying for Grants
Bank Reconciliation	Letter of Intent
AdvancesÂ	Capacity Building
Cost Effective Analysis	Concept Note
How to choosea Bank	Bank Accounts
Cash and Fund flowÂ	Asset RegisterÂ
Financial Statements	Cash and Acrual based AccountingÂ