Bitter Pills:Medicines & The Third World Poor | Page 131

active ingredient to make up a medicine). Attempts are also planned to develop
better dosage forms to suit local conditions - for instance, to take account of the
nutritional status of the poor, and humidity during the long months of the
monsoon. This sort of research tailored to meet local needs is largely neglected
by the bigger foreign-owned companies. Patents on both processes and products
are protected by law in Bangladesh. But Dr. Chowdhury stresses that GPL would
not want to patent any new process discovered because they do not believe in' 'the
monopoly of knowledge".(8)
To achieve greater self-reliance and leave their operations less vulnerable to external
pressures, the team at GPL are keen to expand into the more complex production
of raw materials. These would have to be produced on a large scale to make the
operation cost-effective. But the main difficulty to be confronted would be in
obtaining the necessary technology. This is seen as an important wider objective
behind setting up the factory.
In January 1982, GPL marked its official opening by hosting a conference on
Technology Transfer to the Third World, with participants from many different
countries. Previously, the team had explained: "Gonoshasthaya Kendra is not
only interested in proving its ability to set up this particular pharmaceutical factory,
but sees this effort as a learning situation for a genuine transfer of technology
to the Third World. This is not achieved by multinationals bringing in complete
blueprints which give no opportunity for training and experience of local
manpower... We hope that our work will demonstrate possibilities for such selfreliance ... Most important of all, transfer of technology does not itself mean
improvement for the poor. To find ways which guarantee that industrialisation
can be controlled by the poor masses of Bangladesh rather than becoming an
instrument of oppression, is one of the main goals of GPL".(9'
The unskilled labour force is drawn from the villages of Savar and skilled labou r
from the capital. Most of the unskilled and semi-skilled production work is being
carried out by local women who received a year's special training before the factory
started production.
In its first year of operation GPL has faced technical difficulties particularly with
production interrupted by power cuts and damage to equipment caused by
fluctuations in the electrical current. They have also experienced management
problems. The original production manager broke his two year contract after five
months to go and work with WHO in Jordan, after GPL had funded a three
months' training period for him in Europe. The factory was late in starting
production because of bureaucratic delays in obtaining its initial raw materials
import licence. But now that it is producing good quality, low cost drugs the major
problem GPL faces is in ensuring that these drugs actually reach the poor for
whom they were intended.
GPL expects to sell about 60-70% of its production to the government health
services and the voluntary health sector. This distribution through organised
health services is seen as "the safest and quickest way to channel the benefits
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