Dr. Brundtland, Mr. Otten, Dr. Daulaire, ladies and gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Høsbjør and to this workshop on Differential Pricing and Financing of Essential Drugs.

This hotel, which will be the setting for our discussions during the next three days, was built in the style of Art Noveau, and opened its doors in 1919. For decades it catered for the European upper class and also had the Norwegian Royal Family as regular guests. The clean and dry inland air was reputed to be good for people’s health - particularly for respiratory ailments. Of course, the lovely view of the surrounding countryside also contributed to making their stay pleasant. Guests strolled in the forest, or along the shores of Mjøsa, the largest lake in Norway. They also played golf on a course which in former times lay below us. Nowadays, grazing cattle have replaced the golfers on the fairways (which, by the way, is a fairly unusual procedure in modern Norway).

When the family which today runs the Høsbjør Hotel bought the house in 1982, it had been empty for several years. They restored it for the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics and today they keep it open for private gatherings only.

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I am very pleased that this WHO/WTO workshop can be held in Norway. As Minister of International Development, the issue of health services in developing countries is high on my agenda - and close to my heart. Infectious diseases are serious barriers – in some cases increasingly serious barriers - to development in many places throughout the developing world.

We know that many of these diseases can be treated or even cured if necessary drugs are accessible. I think all of us would agree with what Dr. Brundtland recently said at the London School of Economics:

".....it is a fundamental principle of public health to secure the supply of all essential medicines on the basis of need rather than on the ability to pay".

Access to affordable drugs in itself, however, is generally not enough in order to achieve the necessary improvements in health systems. It takes a lot more than that. But it is a basic requirement.

Moreover, there are differences of opinion as to the ways and means of making drugs available at affordable prices. Over the next few days we will discuss all the various options available, so that we can have a better idea about how we can move forward.

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The organizers have succeeded in bringing together a large, distinguished and highly qualified group of experts at this workshop. Still, we have had to say "no" to many people we know would have contributed constructively to our deliberations. This is regrettable.

The great interest this meeting has aroused reflects an increasing public awareness of the importance of making essential drugs affordable to developing countries. There has been a positive response from both public and private actors to the issues which we are here to discuss. But I think we can all agree that we have just started our mission. Much more remains to be done in order to achieve affordable prices and adequate financing for essential drugs in developing countries.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The discussions over the next few days will certainly be a contrast in many ways to the pleasant and perhaps sometimes superficial conversations of the European bourgeoisie, who spent their time at Høsbjør some generations ago. I sincerely hope that our discussions will be substantive and that they will take place in an open and constructive atmosphere. Our deliberations will be closely followed by others from the outside. Our challenge will be not to disappoint them.

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It has been said that

whereas the old doctor speaks Latin, the young doctor speaks English - but the good doctor speaks the language of his or her patient.

In my mind, a workshop on affordable pricing and financing of essential drugs truly is an effort at speaking the language of the patient – in any context, but especially so in a developing country context.

After all, this workshop is not only about the pharmaceutical industry, patents and prices. This workshop is very much about ethics.

Again, we are very pleased to host such a timely event.

Thank you.

Skål!