Do all vulnerable groups have equal access to essential medicines?
How do you know? The main vulnerable groups to be considered are children (especially girls), women, people living in poverty, rural communities, indigenous populations, national (ethnic, religious, linguistic) minorities, internally displaced persons, the elderly, people with disabilities and prisoners. Ensuring equality and freedom from discrimination starts with collecting disaggregated access statistics for each of these groups. Such statistics are essential to create awareness among policy-makers, to identify vulnerable groups that need special attention and to monitor progress towards universal access. The absolute minimum in this regard consists of gender-disaggregated statistics and incidental surveys specifically aimed at vulnerable groups. Suggested assessment questions: Are disaggregated access statistics available for girls, boys, women and men, and for urban and rural populations? Are essential medicines available in prisons? Are training materials and drug information lea
