[afro-nets] Big Pharma Digs In (2)

["Jeff Buderer" <jeff@onevillagefoundation.org>]

Claudio,

Globally we are at something of a stalemate. I think we will break the stalemate between corporate elites and the grassroots activists, when the side effects of excessive corporate control of public policy becomes obvious and can be quantified as such and leads to significant public pressure against these entrenched vested interests.

Looking at this holistically and as is implied in the article, the fact that nation-state policies are to a large degree molded by these vested interests is problematic to say the least in terms of challenging the idea of a authentic functioning liberal democratic society and the kind of values I think most of here seek to promote through our work.

What is still shocking to a lay observer like myself is the backwardness of the health care infrastructure in the USA and the very fact that Big Pharma is a key player in the development of the USA health care mess that some in this country still want to export to other parts of the world. In the USA it seems like each new week brings new revelations of influence of Big Pharma on many levels that call into question the ethical values not only of the people controlling these companies but of those involved at all levels of the health care and health care policymaking food chain. So its hardly surprising that this corruption would stretch deep into the foreign policy making apparatus.

Yet the challenge is to go beyond these kind of policy debates and consider what a 21st century ecologically and socially sustainable global health delivery system looks like. If there is to be a system for global collaboration then we need to be sure that it is something that is designed in authentic interests of all involved. We need not only consider this in the creation of policies for emerging markets but also to seriously consider the long term sustainability of developed nation health care systems and particularly that in the USA - in which spiraling health care costs here seem to be a major factor that is bankrupting our economy. In this process we need to define the legitimate role of corporations in the health care infrastructure and how that role can or should be regulated, considering that the reach of many of these companies is now not just national but global.

Jeff Buderer
oneVillage Foundation
http://www.onevillagefoundation.org
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skype: jefbuder
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