In the News (from Dawn): “Indian pharmaceutical tycoon Yusuf Hamied revolutionised AIDS treatment more than a decade ago by supplying cut-price drugs to the world’s poor – and now he wants to do the same for cancer.

“Hamied, 76, was pilloried by Western drug giants 11 years ago when he broke their monopoly by offering to supply life-saving triple therapy AIDS drug cocktails for under $1 a day – one-thirtieth the price of the multinationals.

The firms branded him an intellectual property thief while he accused them of being ‘global serial killers’ whose high prices were costing the lives of AIDS patients.

“In 1972, India made only the process for making drugs patentable, not the drugs themselves. This meant firms could ‘reverse-engineer’ or change methods used to make medicines and sell them at up to one-fiftieth of US prices. …

“But in 2005, India brought its law in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules recognising 20-year patents, pushing up the prices of newly launched drugs.”

My Comment: It is not surprising that a healthcare system in any country is only a hidden means of collecting taxes and feeding trough for its supportors. This happens to any egoistic system and to any altruistic initiative that quickly turns egoistic if it doesn’t include integral education and upbringing.
[82033]

Related Material:
Pharmaceutical Industry In Crisis
Head Of WHO: “The End Of Modern Medicine As We Know It”
Medicine: A Profitable Business

Filed under: Education, Egoism, Integral Upbringing, News | Add Comment →