The Access to Medicine Index is an independent initiative that ranks the world’s 20 largest companies according to their efforts to improve access to medicine in developing countries, highlighting policy and practice that either facilitate or hinder access. It is published every two years by the Access to Medicine Foundation, which aims to encourage pharmaceutical companies to make their products more available, affordable and accessible for the millions of people worldwide who do not have reliable access to medicine.

The Index uses a framework that evaluates company activities in seven areas of activity considered to be key to enhancing access to medicine in developing countries. It analyses 101 indicators across these areas, and within each, the indicators are distributed across four types of action to assess the level of commitment the company demonstrates, how transparent it is about what it is doing, what specific activities it is engaged in and how innovative its approach is.

The Index covers 20 companies, 103 countries, and a broad range of products such as drugs, vaccines, diagnostic tests and other health-related technologies necessary for preventing, diagnosing and treating disease. A total of 33 diseases are covered, and the disease scope this year includes maternal conditions and neonatal infections.