An increasing number of countries have been strengthening pharmaceuticals by formulating and implementing national medicine policies. The overall aim is to improve access to quality medicines at affordable cost and ensure their rational use. Despite these efforts, access to medicines remains limited. It is estimated that a third of the world's population lacks regular access to them. This proportion goes up to more than half the population in the poorest parts of Africa. While many governments show sufficient expressed political will to improve the pharmaceutical sector, numerous variables and factors jeopardize the full implementation of medicine policies. Such factors include civil unrest and wars, new diseases such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, insufficient funding, lack of human resources and unfavourable socio-political environment...