The situation with access to basic healthcare in Africa is extremely dire...But when African policymakers look to Asia for "lessons," they find two broad contending visions of what the best approach to the universal provision of public healthcare should be...The issue of standards is...a vital point in the debate about patents and healthcare access that is often ignored because of the overwhelming emphasis on cost. In actual fact, broadly construed, a focus on standards encompasses the key elements of the debate, including innovation, costs and public safety and security...Compulsory licenses may thus seek to "rationalize" costs, but they cannot similarly rationalize "standards."...[refers to Abbott Laboratories, Sanofi-Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Pfizer, Cipla]