Majority of UK health care experts conclude that medicines 'are worth it,' providing net savings to society

Health care executives from around the UK have voiced strong support for the economic value of medicines to modern society at the 18th annual Pharma Times Great Oxford debate last week.

A large majority agreed with the motion: “This house believes that medicines deliver net savings to the nation,” while 69 voted against it, following a lively debate in the world famous Oxford Union debating chamber which saw convincing arguments delivered by both sides.

Proposing the motion, Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, Chairman of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), argued that, even allowing for factors such as side-effects and expense, medicines deliver savings in both wealth and health. He listed a catalogue of achievements in recent history, such as the development of antivirals to help people live longer with HIV. "We don't need a sophisticated economic model to see that medicines have delivered massive savings," he stressed.