**6. NGOs, civil society and consumer groups**

Civil Society Organizations have a long history of involvement on health and access to essential medicines, consumer protection and promotion of transparency, including many national as well as international groups. In-country CSOs are focused on health in different ways – as service providers, advocates for rights, or providers of care and support for people with specific health problems [12]. While formulating medicines policies, policy-makers need to address various socio-economic, legal, administrative and political factors that act as barriers in the equitable access and rational use of medicines and involve civil society and consumer groups in the policy formulation process. Civil society groups can take social activists and philanthropists from various sections of the society like academia, media, judiciary, health, politics, public service, trade and industry on board & launch a sustained campaign for rational use of quality medicines & make logical interventions through persistent advocacy, persuasive pressure and consistent lobbying in the formulation of robust & comprehensive national pharmaceutical policies, their subsequent implementation in a time-bound manner followed by their continuous monitoring, evaluation and improvement on regular basis. Civil society and consumer associations can act as pressure groups to overcome government inaction and sluggishness in policy implementation by developing adequate political connections with the power centres and utilizing them in the best interests of the policy making and enforcement. By carefully using media, legislature and even judiciary and executive if required in a transparent, legitimate and democratic manner, civil society groups can build pressure upon the governments for timely adoption and implementation of policy provision required to ensure availability and affordability of safe and effective medicines of good quality in sufficient quantities at both private and public sector facilities at all times in a year.

Non-governmental, not-for-profit, self-governed, volunteer-based organizations (NGOs) like *Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF)*, *Health Action International (HAI), Management Sciences for Health (MSH)* [13] have been doing a commendable job in partnering with governments, civil society, private sector and health care workers to build resilient and sustainable health systems [14]. Their humanitarian missions are saving lives and improving the health of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people by providing medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Their role in pharmaceutical policy development remains crucial owing to the fact that their philanthropic activities are driven by the humanitarian spirit of social service and not by any business or profit motives. *Stakeholders in Pharmaceutical Policy Development DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105606*

In 1999, in the wake of Doctors Without Borders aka Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) [15] being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, MSF launched the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, since renamed the Access Campaign. Its purpose has been to push for access to, and the development of life-saving and life prolonging medicines, diagnostic tests and vaccines for patients in MSF programmes and beyond.

Similarly in India a NGO named *Jan Swasthya Abhiyan* (JSA) [16] formed in 2001 is constituted of 21 national networks and organizations and state level JSA platforms. Network partners of the JSA include a range of organizations, including NGOs working in the area of health, feminist organizations, people's science organizations, service delivery networks and trade unions. At present it is the major national platform that co-ordinates activities and actions on health and health care across the country. Based on their field experiences, such NGOs can provide significant inputs on how to enhance access to medicines, how to promote their rational use among patients, how to achieve universal health coverage and how to strike a balance between various trade-offs while achieving these goals.
