Today people in Ireland live longer, healthier and more active lives, in part, due to medical progress and pharmaceutical research and development.
The timely use of innovative medicines has:
- Helped to improve life expectancy in Ireland by over a third in the last seventy years, from 57 in 1925 to 81 today.
- Helped thousands of Irish patients with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ulcers, cancer, diabetes and mental illness to lead better and more normal lives, easing the burden on care-givers and delaying or avoiding costly long-term nursing care.
- Contributed to reducing the number of deaths from heart disease and stroke by nearly a half – the number one cause of death in Ireland.
- Reduced the rate of death for heart attack patients in hospitals by nearly 45% and the rate of subsequent heart attacks in a period of six months following initial treatment by 60%.
- Ensured that previously leading causes of death such as pneumonia, TB, polio and measles can now be successfully treated globally.
Not only is the pharmaceutical industry critical to the health of the nation, it plays a critical and substantial role in the Irish economy:
- Currently generates over 50 percent of the country’s exports contributing to making Ireland the largest net exporter of medicines in the EU.
- Maintains substantial operations belonging to 9 of the top 10 companies in the world.
- Manufactures 5 of the world’s top 20 medicines.
- Directly employs over 24,500 people, over half of which are third level graduates.
- Employs another 24,500 people in the provision services to the sector.
- Between 2011 and 2013 over €1.7 billion invested in the sector which has led to the creation of an additional 1,500 jobs.