Major issues in transfer of technology in developing countries. A case study of the pharmaceutical industry, S. Lall, UNCTAD/TD/B/C.6/4, United Nations, October 1975. In French and English.
An analysis of 1. the structure of production and marketing of pharmaceutical products in the world — 80% of which takes place in developed market economy countries;2. principal characteristics of the industry - the role of the multinationals, their power over the market and the direct and indirect consequences of this for developing countries; and 3. proposals for ways in which developing countries may acquire necessary techniques to establish their own pharmaceutical industry. A good, clear study.
Seveso est partout, les femmes du Groupe de travail Seveso, Case postale 111, 1227 Carouge/Geneva, October 1976. 80 pages in French.
A collection of facts, interviews and documents concerning the disastrous escape of the highly poisonous chemical dioxin at Seveso in Italy. Gives chronology of events, including public statements by La Roche-Givaudan, the company responsible, interviews with women from the Seveso area, and a detailed look at the Swiss companies involved, including their activities in Switzerland. Particularly analyses the effects of these on women - pollution, drugs and cosmetics, with specific examples. One of the few feminist analyses of the pharmaceutical industries.
A critical look at the drug industry : how profit distorts medicine. Concerned Rush Students, c/o Bob Schiff, Box 160, 1743 W. Harrison Street, Chicago, III. 60612, USA. No date (? 1977)
The practice of western medicine has come to a point where it is often difficult to distinguish between objective medical practice or drug company induced practice. This collection of papers raises the following issues related to drug companies' activities in the USA and their attempts to corner every possible market : 1. winning over of medical students from day of entry into college (by giving gifts, etc.); 2. direct cooperation with medical establishment (the US professional medical body is affiliated to the drug company professional association); 3. use of brand versus generic names for drugs (drug companies very successfully persuade doctors to prescribe by brand rather than chemical name, and branded products are usually much more expensive although almost exactly the same in composition); 4. production for profit versus people's needs: 5. expansion abroad where less stringent laws allow practices which are illegal in the producing country; 6. entering into everyday lives by medicalising normal social behavior such as worry, frustration, overwork, etc. - legitimate social concerns which have political solutions not drug solutions. Excellent paper.
Health/PAC Bulletin published 6 times a year by the Health Policy Advisory Center, 17 Murray Street, New York, NY 10007, USA. Yearly subscriptions US $ 5.00 students, $ 7.00 other individuals, $15 institutions.
This is a well-produced bulletin on all aspects of health services and medicine from a critical perspective, e.g. no. 67 November/December 1975 : "A cure in search of a disease", the exigencies of marketing abetted by the interests of medical research led to the "epidemic" of hyperactive children (use of Ritalin manufactured by Ciba-Geigy of Switzerland, for something called "minimal brain dysfunction" - mbd.). Recommended, although not specifically feminist.
Who needs the Drug Companies ?, the Haslemere Group, 467 Caledonian Road, London N7, England. (undated ? 1976). Price 50 pence.
Well-written and illustrated pamphlet which looks at how the drug industry works. Uncovers some of the malpractices that have occurred both in industrialized and Third World countries. The role of drugs in relation to the real health needs of developed and developing countries is questioned, and a final section suggests possibilities for change both in the way the drug industry operates (particularly in Third World countries) and change in consumer and doctor attitudes towards drugs. A good and well-documented basic study on the drug industry. Extensive references.
The selection of Essential Drugs, World Health Organization, Geneva 1977.
Gives model list of essential drugs and criteria for assessing which drugs are useful in particular cultural settings. Recommends steps for action and restriction in this field for governments, especially in the Third World.
Witches, Midwives and Nurses, Barbara Ehrenreich and Deidre English, The Feminist Press, . Box 334, Old Westbury, NY 11568, USA. 1973. 45 pages.
This is by now a classic history of women healers in Western civilization. Demonstrates that health and healing has traditionally been women's domain and that through persecution (of "witches") and the establishment of medicine as a profession requiring university training, women have been effectively banned from practice for centuries, and medicine has become the elitist and sexist organization that it is today. Deals at some length with the Popular Health Movement of the 1830's and 40's in the USA, which was first and foremost a women's movement. Excellent feminist historical analysis, with clear conclusions as to what we must do today.
Famille et Developpement, revue trimestrielle africaine d'education (quarterly African review of education), B.P. 11007 CD Annexe, Dakar, Senegal.
This French language magazine is one of the finest and bestproduced publications we have seen which covers the areas of food, agriculture, medicine, health, nutrition, sexuality, polygamy, abortion, contraception, environment, tourism, etc. All these issues are dealt with from a (West) African perspective, setting them firmly within the socio-political context of that continent. It is the only "development" magazine we have seen where the importance of women in all these areas is taken for granted, and their particular oppression stressed.
Because its primary objective is educational, all articles are clearly set out, with terminology explanations, charts, diagrams etc. Extremely well produced and very readable.
Basic Service Delivery in "Under developing" countries : a view from Gonoshasthaya Kendra, Zafrullah Chowdhury, Bangladesh (1977), 40 pages mimeographed.
A clear analytic presentation of underdevelopment in rural areas, using Bangladesh as an example, covering education, rural cooperatives, women, poverty and disease, and health services. Goes on to describe the integrated approach to these problems, attempted by the Gonoshasthaya Kendra (People's Health Centre), describing successes and failures, but always contrasting these local efforts with large-scale sophisticated programs instituted by government and foreign agencies. Excellent.
Unwanted salesmen of the West, Martha Honey, in Guardian Weekly, Manchester, August 21, 1977. Article on a report by Dr. John Yudkin on the practices of international drug companies and their representatives operating in Tanzania. Spending on drugs now accounts for 22 percent of the Tanzanian Health Ministry's allocation, compared with 11 per cent in Britain. Lists many hard sales techniques used by company representatives including advertisements using unsound data from tests, and bribes to doctors. Also shows that listing of drugs in Africa do not carry the same details (specific symptoms, contraindications etc.) as in Britain, and that advertisements push drugs which are claimed to cure anything from malnutrition to fatigue in school children.
The Politics of Health in Tanzania, Malcolm Segall, M Development and Change, Vol. IV no. 1 (1972-3), Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands.
Analyses the economic reality of Tanzania and the need to preventive medicine rather than curative services which currently take the lion's share of the health budget. Look at the influences involved in this western-style medicine of a poor country (neo-colonialism, overseas investment, bourgeois working relationships in health system, urban elite and shows the disastrous effects. Excellent article.
see also
US Medical Research Abroad : for the power not the people, Christine Rack, in Science for the People (Jan-Fe 1977), pp. 20-26. From : SftP, SESPA, 897 Main Street, Cambridge, Ma. 02139, USA. An examination of the US-funded International Center for Medical Research (ICMR) in Call, Colombia, showing that (a) the research effort itself does not benefit the Colombia people and often works to their disadvantage, (b) under the auspices of "medical research", massive amounts of data are collected, organized and stored that could be used for social control (population control, penetration of guerilla movements), (d) training scholarships to the States and US research funding promote a Colombian medical elite strongly biased in favour of such programs, which reinforce US cultural penetration and political control of the Colombian health system. Also shows the link between multinational agribusiness companies to health research, by supposed attempts to eliminate malnutrition by development of "high protein" food commodities for industrial production.
Science for the people frequently carries excellent articles about health, women drug companies and related issues. Highly recommended.
Runway Training, Mila Lahoz, in New Internationalist (April 1977), p. 7. From : The New Internationalist, 62a High Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 OEE, UK.
Problems of overqualified medical personnel, skilled for high technology, but with a lack of knowledge of dealing with local needs of basic health services in poor areas. One US trained doctor's view of this : she feels frustrated and unused. (No analysis of why, but this is implicit.)
This whole issue of New Internationalist deals with health, with an emphasis on developing countries, and the "diseases of poverty". Gives, via a variety of articles, a very clear perspective on the problem of health control.
Les Marchands de Pilules, ou au diable les varices in Tout Va Bien, Geneva, Switzerland, April 1975. French. From : TVB, Case Postale 142, 1211 Geneve 8, Switzerland.
A clear examination and perspective on Swiss pharmaceutical companies (La Roche, Ciba-Geigy, and Sandoz) which control 11°/o of the Swiss market and take second place after the USA. Looks at the lack of state control over the industry in comparison with Britain and the States, the amount spent on research (3 or 4 times less than on publicity and promotion), and the specializations of the different companies which reduces their production costs. A good basic piece. Tout Va Bien is a monthly magazine containing "counter information and dealing with struggles". This April number has "women" as its major theme.
Familienplannung Weltweit trotz Geburtenriickgang, Frauen des FS Padagogik, Munzgasse 22-30, D-74 Tubingen, West Germany. March 1978. German.
Expose on how a German pharmaceutical company, Schering, is pushing its products under the guise of "sex education" in cooperation with the University of Tubingen wtT men's clinic.
The Lilly Connection. Drug Abuse and the Medical Profession, Michael Smith, in Science for the People, Jan-Feb 1978, pp. 8-15 (for address, see above).
An extremely vivid account of the history of the manufacture and marketing of addictive drugs and barbiturates by Eli Lilly and Co., and their subsequent integration into social programs backed by the federal government in the USA. Also indicates extent of crime to protect the sales of these drugs for enormous annual profits. Final part talks of the Lincolm Detox Program which gives assistance to victims of drug abuse (including families and neighbors), via acupuncture, herbology and other natural-healing techniques.
Hungry for profits, Robert J. Ledogar, ' Q I DOC Noth America, 145 East 49th Street, New York, NY 10017, USA. 1975. 210 pages.
With very specific case studies and examples, this book examines the effect of pharmaceutical and food companies' activities in Latin America. Looks at the drugs, poultry, "high-protein" food, coca-cola, baby foods and sugar. Important resource.
Health in Bangladesh and the Proposed International Center for Health Research, John Briscoe, Cholera Research Laboratory, Dacca, December 1977, 7 pages, mimeographed.
An expose of foreign capital interests in the health programs and development of Bangladesh, showing no or little concern for the people. A clear presentation.
Research : A Method of Colonization, Zafrullah Chowdhury, mimeographed (published in the Bangladesh Times, 13/14 January 1977), Bangladesh.
Shows how the combined forces of Western medical research (government financed), university prestige and the interests of drug companies to expand markets are working together to use the Third World as a laboratory with almost no concern for the indigenous health care. Gives specific examples as the Johns Hopkins Fertility Research Project.
Progress Reports 1-6, Gonoshasthaya Kendra, P.O. Nayarmat, District Dacca, Bagladesh.
Reports of the People's Health Center, an integrated rural development project run and evaluated entirely by Bangladeshis, giving a continuous critical assessment of their own program and that of imposing outside agencies.
Complaints and disorders : the sexual politics of sickness, Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, Compendium, 240 Camden High Street, London NW1, England. November 1974. 94 pages. (Published in the USA by the Feminist Press, Old Westbury, N.Y. 11568).
"The medical system is strategic for women's liberation. It is the guardian of reproductive technology - birth control, abortion and the means for safe childbirth". This booklet takes a highly critical look at the growth of the medical profession during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and its role in oppressing women by either describing them as sick (middle and upper classes) or treating them as dirty and "sickening" (working class). It goes on to show the sophistication of the growth of psychiatry in the same context. This is a fine analysis, with illustrations, of the politics of medicine from a feminist perspective.
Poor Health, Rich Profits, Tom Heller, Spokesman books, Nottingham, UK, 1977.
Examines the claim that the presence of large companies within the developing world actively "assists" development by a steady transfer of technology, and argues that the entire structure of multinational corporations depends on the total control over such technology, and that there has been virtually no transfer of relevant technology by these companies to the countries of the developing world.
World Health World Health Organization (WHO), Av. Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
Monthly magazine of the WHO produced in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Beautifully presented with wonderful photographs, this glossy magazine brings together a collection of articles from around the world on one specific theme each time e.g. traditional medicine (November 1977), or primary health care (May 1978). Mostly concentrates on reporting about WHO'S programs. An interesting resource but obviously establishment-oriented. Free.
Health care : new music - old harmony, Marit Kromberg, January 1977. Mimeographed, 11 pages.
Outlining the most recent approach of many health agencies to their programs in the Third World - "primary health care" - the author goes on to show that such a new approach does nothing if underlying assumptions are not examined. Health care does not produce good health, it is argued, unless health is regarded as political, which means looking at control and the exercise of power, at government and local levels. A good brief analysis.
Patients put at risk as doctors aid drug firms in sales drive, Oliver Gillie and Ian McKee, in The Sunday Times, London, 29 January 1978.
Story of how pharmaceutical companies pay doctors to try out their new drugs on patients. Gives several different examples of British, American and Swiss companies marketing new painkillers and heart drugs through this method. Very often patients are totally unaware that they are being used in this way, and monitoring for side effects has been non-existent or inadequate.
Capitalism and the Drug Industry, Sue Landers, WIN, Oc tober 27, 1977. From : WIN, War Resisters'League, 503 Atlantic Ave., 5th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217, USA.
Looks at the drug industry's standing and function with broader capitalist framework of business in America, specif cally dealing with companies manufacturing psychoactive drugs - tranquilizers, anti-depressants, sedatives, hypnotic Companies explored are : Eli Lilly (Sandril and Seconal Merck & Co. (Triavil, Vacatil and Elavil), Pfizer & C (Vistaril), Schering-Plough (Etrafon), and Smith Klii (Stelazine, Eskalith and Thorazine).
European Health Program and Drug Trade - Some L healthy Strains, Clyde H. Farnsworth, in International Herald Tribune, March 22, 1976.
Showing that the one dominant customer for the more tf $ 47 billion of medicinal drugs sold in Europe in year government officials and medical professionals, the arti goes on to give examples of bribery, transfer pricing (increasing prices by shunting products from one country to i other) and a lack of stringent controls on the introduction drugs into European markets. Italy especially is prone abuse since there are no patent laws. Argues towards "internationalization" of prices
Hoffmann-La Roche and Women
HLR is the manufacturer of the most highly consume tranquilizer in Switzerland (and elsewhere) : Valium
We women consume more painkillers, tranquilizers r stimulants than men.
A drug which costs HLR 2.70 Swiss francs, costs 10 Swiss francs.
HLR is the largest pharmaceutical company in world. This is not only thanks to us, but at least thanks to us.
Seveso est partout
Geneva 1976
Companies manufacturing pharmaceuticals on the world market
| Home base | 1970 turnover in pharmaceuticals (US$ millions) | |
| 1. Hoffmann-La Roche | Switzerland | 840 |
| 2. Merck | USA | 670 3. |
| 3, Hoechst | West Germany | 497 4. |
| 4. Giba-Geigy | Switzerland | 492 5. |
| 5. American Home Products | USA | 479 6 |
| 6. Lily | USA | 421 7 |
| 7. Sterling | USA | 418 8 |
| 8. Pfizer | USA | 416. 9 |
| 9. Warne-Lambert | USA | 408 10 |
| 10. Sandoz | Switzerland | 346 11 |
| 11. Upjohn | USA | 342 12 |
| 12. Abbott | USA | 330 12 |
| 13.Squibb | USA | 310 14 |
| 14. Bayer | West Germany | 286 15 |
| 15. Bristol-Myers | USA | 262 16 |
| 16. Glaxo | United Kingdom | 261 17 |
| 17. Rhone-Poulenc | France | 257 18 |
| 18. Schering-Plough | USA | 255 19 |
| 19. Cyanamid | USA | 243 20 |
| 20. Smith Kline and French | USA | 215 21 |
| 21. Boehringer-Ingleheim | West Germany | 211 22 |
| 22. Schering | West Germany | 211 23 |
| 23. Takeda | Japan | 209 24 |
| 24. Roussel-UCLAF | France | 183 25 |
| 25. Wellcome | United Kingdom | 136 26 |
| 26. Beecham | United Kingdom | 132 27 |
| 27. Searle | USA | 125 28 |
| 28. Azko | Netherlands | 121 |
From : Tom Heller, Poor Health, Rich Profits, Nottingham, 1977