China exposes shameful corruption by drug companies

Transnational medicinal drugs corporations, during the past few decades of the globalised capitalist marketeconomicsystem,areknowntohave emerged as one of the world’s biggest businesses, making asmuchprofitif notmorethanthearmsandagro-chemical industries. The eminent and patient-friendly physician Professor Carlo Fonseka, now the Chairman of the Sri LankaMedicalCouncil,oftenspeaksatawarenessseminars on the topic, “The truth about transnational drug companies, how they are deceiving us, and what we could do about it.”

Whatwaslargelyawell-knownandwell-keptsecret blazedintoworldheadlineswhenChinasaidawell-known British-based transnational drug company had offered a staggering US$500 million (more than Rs.6,500 million) as bribes to health officials and doctors. It was a bitter pill for the TNC which operates in most countries including Sri Lanka,andisnowknowntobemainlytargetingtheemerging market of China with its population of about 1.3 billion. Police say the staff of the TNC offered Government officials and doctors bribes and took kick-backs from travel agencies to organise conferences, some of which were fake.

China’sCommerceMinistryspokesmanShenDanyang said the Chinese Government firmly opposed business corruption in any form. Any company, be it domestic or foreign, would be punished by law.

Business analysts said Chinese authorities were also investigating other transnational drugs corporations whichwereallegedtohavegivenbribestodoctorswho were susceptible to such temptations because they were paid low salaries. They said the TNCs were likely to reduce prices of drugs as a compromise because their investments in the huge Chinese market ran into billions of dollars.

TheshamefulcorruptionscandalinChinaneedstoopen the eyes of government leaders and health officials in Sri Lanka to the urgency of introducing legislation for a NationalMedicinalDrugsPolicy(NMDP)basedonProf. Senaka Bibile’s Essential Medicines Concept. A comprehensivedraftforanNMDP–throughwhich quality drugs could be made available to the people at affordable prices – had been handedovertotheGovernmentasfar backasJuly2005bytheWorldHealth Organisation’s drugs policy expert Professor Krishantha Weerasooriya.Heworkedoutthe NMDPafterseveralroundsof discussions with all stakeholders including the People’s Movementforthe Rights of Patients (PMRP).The NMDPwas approvedbythe Cabinet in October 2005, andsincethenthePresidentandtwoHealthMinistershave been promising to implement it soon, but that ‘soon’ has dragged or for eight years. Health action groups here are expressing concern that something like the corruption scandal in China may be one of the reasons for the mysterious delay. Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said recently he wanted to introduce the legislation for the NMDPthisyearandhadaskedtheLegalDraftswomanto work out the draft. But strange things are happening for reasons which might include the China factor because the Minister said recently the draft had disappeared. Health Rightsgroupssaytheword‘disappeared’mayhavebeen another way of saying the regime does not want it.

But millions of people need it urgently. We urge the Government to reject the neo-colonial economic strategies of the TNCs and to act fast to introduce legislation to reducethenumberof expensivedrugsbeingimported, impose quality control and take steps to end corruption involving health officials and medical personnel.