Quotes from the Launch

John Sulston (Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, 2002)
"The success in the human genome project, with which I was previously involved, [...] is an example of the general access to knowledge that is absolutely fundamental to progress in science and medicine.
Now the key issue is to make the medical benefits, which flow from these advances, correspondingly accessible to all. This is not a luxury. Nor is universal healthcare a pipe dream, but a goal that is critical to the future of us all. Neglect of this goal will have global and ultimately fatal consequences."

Jody Willams (Nobel Peace Prize, 1997)
"The landmine campaign has been seen as important because it was NGOs that captured the public conscience and galvanised government action leading to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty...
This model can be very instrumental to the call for setting a needs-driven agenda for science, and that is why I immediately accepted the invitation to sign the appeal. Such collective efforts will help develop the thinking that global security is advanced not by increasing military budgets and the number of weapons [...] but by addressing "human security" needs as a fundamental linchpin upon which the security of us all ultimately rest."

Rowan Gillies, MSF International (Nobel Peace Prize, 1999)
"Governments must base R&D priorities on the needs of patients, and not just the market...
We don't want to practice second-class medicine just because most of our patients live in poor countries and do not have purchasing power. We need to have better tools so that patients everywhere can be diagnosed and treated more easily, rapidly and effectively. Patients urgently need new, user-friendly diagnostics and medicines."