Free drugs for the poor

The government of India has announced a $5 billion (£3.2 billion) plan to provide more than half of the country’s 1.2 billion people with free generic drugs. In a country that has among the lowest healthcare spending per capita in the world, this is welcome news. But there are fears that the pharmaceutical industry, looking to the emerging markets to make up for declining sales in the developed world, will suffer as the plan will only cover generic medicines.

Free generics for India’s poor but big pharma misses out – Chemistry World, 25 July 2012

Image from here.

India’s new anti-malarial drug

Indian pharmaceutical firm Ranbaxy has launched the drug Synriam, which it claims will prove a more efficient and simpler treatment for malaria. With its affordable price, Synriam may well be a step towards achieving the WHO’s goal of eradicating malaria by 2050, but Ranbaxy cannot take all the credit for it.

Ranbaxy launches new anti-malarial Synriam – Chemistry World, 3 May 2012

A list of main references for the article is here.