Health: A New Arena of Competition

Supply disruptions on many drugs show that our health can depend on events happening at the other end of the globe. The strong internationalization of drug production processes has led to key steps, including the production of active ingredients, being increasingly concentrated on a small number of producers in India or China. While the relocation of some production steps may increase costs, it could lead to more reliable drug supply. How can health sovereignty be restored? At what level, national or European, should it be considered? The most important thing is the location of producers, or the certainty of being able to find, at each stage of production, a supplier in capacity? On the other hand, pandemics and the health consequences of climate change call for coordinated responses at a global level. But the institutions concerned, notably the World Health Organization, are threatened both by their own dysfunctions and by the announced withdrawal of the United States. How can we restore a multilateral approach to health, or what should we replace it with? Finally, innovation in health, both in the field of medicine and digital technology, is most often carried out by multinational companies. What forms of regulation would ensure that the most useful innovations benefit everyone?