Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank the witnesses for joining us.
At our previous meeting, last week, we had with us Dr. Kilby. He told us that, by the end of the year, 5.2 million patients will have been treated, but that it was already clear that the supply from India could not meet those needs. He said that many of his patients will need second-generation medicines because the toxicity level of first-generation medicines is too high. He also told us that in the coming years, he will be able to treat twice as many patients. It's obvious that there won't be enough generic drugs for all those people.
Dr. Attaran, you said in your presentation that our Parliament does not have the power to optimize the current system and make it possible to get medicines to the poorest countries. We are talking about the countries Dr. Kilby mentioned in his presentation.
I ask myself one simple question on the subject. Drugs are needed to meet the needs. If we are unable to provide drugs because of their cost, how can supplies be shipped to those countries? That's the key question people are asking. How can we do more to resolve this problem?