Medicine
What's wrong in the Mekong?
IPN Opinion article
Resistance to the latest anti-malarial drugs is building up in the Mekong Delta and will threaten much of Asia and Africa: the WHO has just put out a warning that catches up with years of research saying the same thing. Mutation plays a part but so do counterfeits, accounting for a quarter of all medicines in developing countries and a third in Africa.
India: Urgent steps are needed to ensure quality medicines
IPN Opinion article
The WHO is trying to fight the huge international trade in counterfeits but faces opposition from India and others, driven by a strange coalition ranging from the far Left to business organisations: this author blows away some of the straw men these people have built up. Barun Mitra says robust trademark protection will give Indian companies a stake in quality and give Indian, and worldwide, patients the guarantees that they need.
No more death by federal red tape
IPN Opinion article
The current system of drug regulation in the USA has led to plummeting innovation, ballooning costs and tragedy for terminal patients who are denied access to experimental drugs. The new FDA commissioner should make reform a priority.
There's no silver bullet for malaria
IPN Opinion article
Drug resistant malaria portends a health disaster, provoked by widespread substandard drugs. While cheaper drugs may help, this will not solve a problem that is embedded by other factors such as weak trademark laws.
