Patents and Patients - India

August 2002The treatment of Indian AIDS sufferers is being hampered by US pharmaceutical companies, desperate to protect their valuable drugs patents. Dr Hamied works for CILPA, an Indian drug company that develops medicines for HIV sufferers. He aims to make treatment affordable for India's poor. Yet he has been accused by the big multi-nationals of 'theft'. "Patents are vital to protecting the development of new drugs." claims Dr. Raaijmakers. But Dr Hamied counters this "Companies spend twice as much marketing their products, rather than developing them." Without the money to market his new drugs, he cannot persuade local doctors that his drugs work. To make matters worse, no-one knows how to use the drugs most effectively -- creating the possibility of drug resistant strains of HIV.

Channel: People & Blogs
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: journeymanpictures

Length: 21:44
Rating: 5.00
Views: 902

Tags: AIDS  companies  Dr  drug  Hamied  India  Journeyman  patrents  pharmaceutical  Pictures  

Video Comments