Policy Innovation Memorandum examines safety of world drug, vaccine supply

"The world is facing two immediate health crises concerning drugs and vaccines: affordable and reliable access to life-sparing medicines and the safety and reliability of those medicines," Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), writes in the council's Policy Innovation Memorandum No. 21, titled, "Ensuring the Safety and Integrity of the World's Drug, Vaccine, and Medicines Supply." According to the memorandum, "Unless this issue is addressed, millions more lives and the credibility of medicines and vaccines will be lost. The Groups of Eight (G8) and Twenty (G20) countries should take the lead, as a matter of urgency, in promoting cooperation among national safety regulators, tougher legal frameworks, and regional networks of surveillance and prosecution" (May 2012).