Making essential medicines more widely available in the developing world is vital to cutting mortality rates, according to a new report backed by Tony Blair.

The prime minister put aside domestic difficulties to support efforts to improve access to medicines that can prevent deaths from TB and malaria.

At a breakfast in Downing Street Blair was joined by international development secretary Clare Short and health minister Lord Hunt to launch a report from a high-level working group on increasing access to essential medicines in the developing world, with key recommendations to help poorer countries.

The meeting was joined by pharmaceutical bosses, representatives of the United Nations, the European Commission, charities and the Ugandan high commissioner.

Aids, TB and Malaria cause six million deaths a year, mostly in the developing world thus impoverishing families and countries that carry this disease burden, the working group has found.

Many of the deaths could be prevented with existing treatments, but in Africa only one in three people have access to effective malaria treatment.

Aids alone has reduced average national economic growth rates across Africa by two to four percentage points.

And the Aids epidemic across Africa has become the biggest issue on the agenda of politicians who are demanding lower costs and greater access to drugs.

Blair wants governments to guarantee that if tariffs are removed and reduced cost drugs will not be re-exported.

Short said the plan outlined in the report was "an important advance".

"It sets out an ambitious agenda to provide much greater access to essential medicines for the world's poor. The proposed partnership would deliver essential drugs and basic health care systems to people living in the poorest countries in a way which will prevent great suffering and reduce economic hardship," she said.

"If implemented, I believe the report will help bring about widespread, sustainable and predictable access to medicines for the poor for the first time."

Measures in the report include a pledge that lower prices for drugs in poorer countries would not be used as a benchmark for developed markets.

It also called for medicines for HIV and Aids, TB and malaria at close to the cost of manufacture in all least developed countries and across sub-Saharan Africa.

There would also be measures to prevent the re-importation of cheaper drugs meant for the Third World into western markets.