Description
Zed Books The Politics of Essential Drugs The Makings of A Successful Health Strategy Lessons From Bangladesh by Zafrullah Chowdhury
When a country adopts an essential drugs list, bans ineffective and harmful pharmaceuticals and endeavours to boost local drugs production, it incites the wrath of the global drugs industry. This book tells the story of how Bangladesh, after introducing its National Drugs Policy in 1982, had to withstand a concerted campaign by transnational companies, their governments, and large sections of the medical profession. It assesses the achievements and the limitations of the Bangladeshi experiment, describes reform attempts in other countries, and provides evidence of malpractice and corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. The ambiguous role of the World Health Organization is particularly examined. The book ends with an assessment of the prospects for Bangladesh's drugs policy in the 1990s, when it is clear that the battle for a health policy to benefit the poor has yet to be won.