Bitter Pills:Medicines & The Third World Poor | Page 190

producers. If competition in the generics market were eliminated in this way,
industry could revert to its highly concentrated structure and prices might rise.
In the words of UNCTAD, "an agreed price floor could emerge even for
generics". (ll3> Furthermore, future rapid obsolescence in production technology
could reinforce the Third World's dependence as a captive market.
The leading companies cannot be expected to relinquish their market power
voluntarily. Consequently it would be unfair to dismiss any policy move to supply
the Third World market with branded generics solely on the grounds that this
might enable leading companies to undercut local industry. Manufacturers that
move into generics production are at least offering Third World buyers an
alternative to expensive brand-name products. It is then vital for Third World
buyers to ensure that they do not become over-dependent on monopoly suppliers
of branded generics.
POSITIVE RESPONSES TO THIRD WORLD NEEDS
We have already seen that through the IFPMA, industry has offered to supply
essential drugs for public health service use in poor countries under 'special'
conditions - although the precise advantages are not entirely clear. By May 1982,
42 manufacturers had contacted IFPMA expressing interest in supplying
developing countries with a total of 230 drugs -130 of them included in the WHO
Selection of Essential Drugs. ( " 4)
Just one illustration of industry's public expression of concern for the needs of
developing countries is the statement that IFPMA made to the 1979 World Health
Assembly that they wished "to put firmly on record that the Pharmaceuticals
industry entirely shares the WHO's concern in its objective of improving health
care and in particular improving the access of drugs, vaccines and sera of the poorer
developing countries". IFPMA also advised delegates that "As a particular
illustration of this concern ... a number of companies in our industry have
volunteered to place certain drugs used in communicable disease control at the
disposal of the WHO under special conditions". ( " 5)
The Belgian company, Janssen, echoes other manufacturers in demonstrating
its awareness of the problems of drug supply in developing countries:
"Unfortunately, we ascertain far too often that the drugs we found and developed
after years of research, do not always reach the people who are most in need of
them. It is often very difficult to reach the rural populations in developing
countries. But the biggest problem for people who have to do with a s