E-drug: Forthcoming New Internationalist edition on Big Pharma
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Dear people,
I am Dinyar Godrej, one of the editors of the popular global justice
issues magazine New Internationalist (http://www.newint.org). I'd like
to approach the members of this list for suggestions/ideas for articles
for an issue of the magazine that I am putting together on Big
Pharma and how the practices of the corps impact on the availability
of essential drugs in the Majority World (the so-called Third World).
I would like to hear from you on any current struggles to get access to
affordable drugs that you think we should be reporting on. Also
suggestions around sharp practice would also be welcome - drug
dumping, unethical promotion, dodgy drug trials, sweeteners offered
to health professionals, etc. Then there's also the issue of the
skewing of research towards lifestyle medication, whilst neglecting
much more serious diseases which affect people whose ability to pay
is low.
However, the magazine would also be looking at ways out of the
current sorry state of affairs where a market-focussed drug industry
armed with patent protection puts profits before people. So
suggestions on that front are also welcome - more co-operation with
the drug giants, greater regulation, increased public research, equity
pricing, wider compulsory licensing and parallel purchasing - what are
the solutions most likely to work? Are there areas of activism/
campaigns we should be supporting?
The WHO states: 'There is an inherent conflict of interest between the
legitimate business goals of the manufacturers and the social,
medical and economic needs of providers and the public to select and
use drugs in the most rational way.' Well, how can we hope to cut
through it?
Do members know of writers (preferably from the Majority World) able
to cover either interesting stories or able to think outside of the
envelope on the wider issues? The magazine has a non-specialist
readership and we attempt to present the issues we cover in an
accessible and engaging form.
Please contact me off-list at dinyar@antenna.nl
Thanks for reading,
Dinyar Godrej
Co-editor, New Internationalist
Tel/Fax: 00 31 10 461 3701
e-mail: dinyar@antenna.nl
www.newint.org
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