Today’s global market has multiple standards. Patients in low- and middle-income countries often receive poor-quality medicines. Despite increasing awareness about the issue and the launch of some initiatives, the divide in quality of pharmaceuticals between the North and the South remains great and insufficiently addressed. Amongst other recommendations, this editorial emphasises that there needs to be more advocacy for universal access to quality medicines. It further states that all those who are strongly “involved” with medicines should be targeted: regulators, international organisations, journalists, purchasers, prescribers, program managers, policy makers, public health actors, and the patients. It concludes by stating the fight to ensure universal access to quality medicines needs everyone’s participation, and can only be successful if grounded in common understanding.
