In the first of two on-the-spot reports Bill Breckon investigates why, in 1979, the vast majority of people in the Third World are denied the drugs they desperately need. 1: The Diagnosis
Why are drugs, at best irrelevant and at worst dangerous, still promoted by pharmaceutical companies in developing countries? Why do Bangladeshi village parents starve to buy vitamin pills for their children? Why are drugs, banned in the West, readily available over the counter in the poorest countries of the world? Why, in the words of the Director General of the World Health Organisation, does 'drug colonialism ' still survive.
Research SHARON BANOFF Producer RITCHIE COGAN
(Repeated: Mon 11.40 am)