Profits over health? Industry practices, medicine shortages, and the cost of care

Equitable access to medicines is a major complex global health challenge. To improve access to medicines a variety of elements are needed, globally and nationally including ensuring transparency in industry practices, strengthening regulatory agencies, and promoting independent research. Using insulin as a tracer medicine helps understand this complexity and highlight the commercial determinants of these barriers. In order to change this paradigm governments, the private sector, and civil society all need to play a key role to guarantee universal access to essential medicines, such as insulin.