Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Global Justice Now, Stopaids and Just Treatment entitled Bitter Pills published on 12 July 2023.

The United Kingdom has well established systems for controlling costs and ensuring we get value for money for spending on medicines. The UK’s system is seen as world-leading, due in large part to the role of the National Health Service as a single buyer providing access to the vast majority of the UK market. However, the Department does not recognise the specific methodology used in this report.

The 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access is expected to generate around £7 billion in income for the NHS over five years, while also supporting access to and uptake of the most clinically and cost-effective medicines.

Negotiations are ongoing to agree a new voluntary scheme which should continue to support patients, the economy and the affordability of medicines to the NHS.