Johannesburg — FIRST we had "fair trade" coffee, claiming to help farmers in poor countries. Then came "penguin approved" products, carbon neutral to prevent climate change. Last week, scientists at Imperial College, London, gave us "ethical pharmaceuticals", claiming they will slash drug prices and save poor countries from disease. But this is more about salving western consciences than helping the poor. The premise of "ethical pharma-ceuticals" is simple: access to medicines is low in poor countries because of the high prices that arise when pharmaceutical companies patent their drugs, giving them a monopoly on those drugs. The scientists claim that by slightly altering the molecular structure of an existing drug they can circumvent the patent and market their "new" product at rock bottom prices, thus rescuing the poor from a whole host of diseases.
However, the philanthropic pharma-cists are chasing a red herring. The price of medicines is only of marginal relevance to health care in poor countries.
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