On the road to Liberty

The WHO is trying to fight the huge international trade in counterfeits but faces opposition from India and others, driven by a strange coalition ranging from the far Left to business organisations: this author blows away some of the straw men these people have built up. Barun Mitra says robust trademark protection will give Indian companies a stake in quality and give Indian, and worldwide, patients the guarantees that they need. My article titled India: Urgent steps are needed to ensure quality medicines was published in The Pioneer on March 31, 2009 Indian pharmaceutical companies are supplying sub-standard drugs in Maharashtra. While the home-grown nature of the problem at least means that a solution lies in our own hands, the Government is sending a worrying signal by blocking the World Health Organisation's efforts to improve drug quality around the world. Maharashtra's Medical, Education and Drugs Secretary Bhushan Gagrani said that 547 samples of Indian-produced sub-st...

Reviewing the allegations of pesticide in soft drinks in India last year, I outline the fatal flaw in the media based activism that sacrifices science for fifteen minutes of glory. A version of this article appeared in the Indian Express. Looking back at the year of 2006, perhaps you remember the uproar this past summer concerning pesticides in Coca-Cola and Pepsi products in India? In early August, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), an Indian NGO, published a report alleging that the pesticide levels in Coca-Cola and Pepsi products were unsafe. Social activists in India and across the world railed against Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and the Economist ran a feature article on how these activists had “dented two of the world’s glossiest brands.” The Indian Parliament and Supreme Court held hearings on the matter, and several Indian states outright banned Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Meanwhile, US-based activists called on colleges and universities to ban Coca-Cola on their campuses. It now ...

While on a trip to South-East Asian countries, I found that many are looking at India for health care policies. There is a belief among many, that with 97% of medicines in the Indian market being generic, and prices quite low, Indians must be enjoying a very good health. In this article, "How healthy is our health care system?" I look at the grim reality facing patients in India. International perceptions of India have been radically changing over the last few years, whether for her higher economic growth rate, the extraordinary rise of her IT sector or her potential as an emerging super-power. However, during recent trips to south-east Asia, this writer suddenly became aware of yet another perception of India. From Thailand to Malaysia to Philippines and Indonesia, it seems many people in Asia are looking at India as a model for health-care policy. This came as a surprise, given that commentators in India are generally united in the belief that the two areas where India fac...

India's compliance with TRIPS will not hinder the poor's access to essential medicines; rather, it is the government's hold on the healthcare sector that makes equitable healthcare impossible. My article titled Misdiagnosing the diseases of the poor was published in The Indian Express on January 28 2005. The present debate over the Indian patent law, despite the passion, is underscored by the desire to score political points. Consequently, most of the arguments have been disconnected from reality. India has been a proving ground for those who oppose patents on pharmaceutical products. We scrapped all product patents in 1972. As a result, India is now home to over 20,000 pharmaceutical companies producing copies of drugs developed óand patentedó elsewhere. However, access to medicines remains pooró suggesting that patents are not the key determinant of access that their opponents claim. In India, medicine represents between 10 and 15% of total health care costs. This will...

The present debate over the Indian patent law has done a disservice to the poor patients by shifting the focus away from the more sickness that afflicts the health care system in India. Its not patents but the government hold on the health care sector that is preventing the poor from gaining access to medicines. A version of this article titled "Patients, not Patents, need to be at heart of the health care debate" has appeared in The Indian Express , January 28, 2004 The present debate over the Indian patent law, despite the passion, is underscored by the desire to score political points. Consequently, most of the arguments have been disconnected from reality. India has been a proving ground for those who oppose patents on pharmaceutical products. We scrapped all product patents in 1972. As a result, India is now home to over 20,000 pharmaceutical companies producing copies of drugs developed and patented elsewhere. However, access to medicines remains poor suggesting that p...