Sunday, 27 April, 8.30pm
Tuesday, 29 April, 3.30am

A hard-hitting investigation into the global power of the world's most profitable business - the pharmaceutical industry. The programme reveals just how far drug companies are prepared to go to get their drugs approved and what they will do to make sure they get the prices they want.

In Africa the team sees how one of the world's biggest drug companies experimented on children without their parents' knowledge or consent. In Canada they reveal how a drug company attempted to silence a leading academic who had doubts about their drug. In South Korea cameras follow the attempts of desperately ill patients to make a leading drug company sell them the drugs they need to save their lives at an affordable price. And in Honduras the team uncovers the brutal consequences of drug companies' pricing policies.

This is a powerful film with alarming implications for everyone whose health depends on prescription medicines. If the power of these multi-nationals remains unchecked, many more people will soon be dying for drugs.

For more information about the issues raised in the programme check out the links below:

Campaigning groups
Information on the drugs and drugs trials
Disease information and charities
Ethical regulation on drug testing
International bodies
Relevant news stories
Story specific groups
Pharmaceutical companies
Other international health aid agencies

UK Based

Medecins Sans Frontieres
Web:  www.uk.msf.org/index.cfm?a=1 or www.accessmed-msf.org
An international doctors charity (known as Doctors Without Borders in the USA) which provides free medical assistance to people around the world, and also campaigns to highlight the plight of the people they help.
They have very successfully campaigned to improve access to essential medicines, and are active in the UK as well as in the developing World. Read one of their reports on this subject in pdf format here.
MSF London
67-74 Saffron Hill
London EC1R 5DJ
Tel: 0207 404 6600
Fax: 0207 713 5004

Oxfam
Web: www.oxfam.org.uk/cutthecost/index.html
Oxfam is a development, relief, and campaigning organisation dedicated to finding lasting solutions to poverty and suffering around the world. The charity works with poor communities, local partners, volunteers, and supporters to help this become a reality.
They have been campaigning heavily to cut the cost of essential medicines, demanding that people come before profits, highlighting issues such as: how WTO patent rules, whether raising prices or restricting exports of generic drugs, directly affects poorer nations. Read one of their briefing papers on the subject, 'Priced out of Reach' here.
274 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7DZ
Tel: 01865 311 311

Save the Children
Web: www.savethechildren.org.uk
This the UK site of Save the Children, an organisation working to create a better future for children. They are active in around 70 countries worldwide. The site includes information on current campaigns such as the ‘Beat Poverty’ campaign.

VSO
Web: www.vso.org.uk
VSO is an international development charity that works through volunteers and campaigns on drug company ethical practices. Download their report (written in conjunction with Oxfam and Save the Children), 'Beyond Philanthropy' here.

Information on the Drugs and Drug Trials featured in the film

Statement from the Department of Health (DOH)

Unethical Trials and Research
There are well established systems to stop this from happening in the UK.  All research in the NHS already has to have ethical approval from an NHS research ethics committee before it can go ahead.

New regulations, due to come into force by May 2004, are out for consultation. They make it a criminal offence for trials of medicines in humans to begin in the UK without being authorised by the  Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Nigeria

WHO Trovan Alert
Web: www.who.int/
A World Health Organisation Alert regarding the drug Trovan in June 1999.

Canada

The Hospital for Sick Children – L1 Clinical Trials Review
Web: www.sickkids.on.ca/L1trials/default.asp
Read in full the review of the clinical trials of L1 on which Dr Nancy Olivieri was a key researcher.

The Olivieri Report
A detailed inquiry into every aspect of the L1 trials in Toronto.  Read the full report (over 500 pages!) or just the summary at www.caut.ca/english/issues/acadfreedom/olivieri.asp.

South Korea

Consumer Project on Technology: Glivec
Web: www.cptech.org/ip/health/gleevec
Health care and Intellectual Property resources on Glivec from Consumer Project on Technology.

Glivec
Web: www.glivec.com
The international website run by the drug company Novartis on the Leukemia drug shown in the film.

Honduras

Consumer Project on Technology: AIDS
Web: www.cptech.org/ip/health/aids
Very detailed Intellectual Property and Access to Medicine information on AIDS from Consumer Project on Technology.

Consumer Project on Technology: Diflucan
Web: www.cptech.org/ip/health/fluconazole
Very detailed health care and Intellectual Property resources on Diflucan (the brand name of the drug fluconazole) from Consumer Project on Technology.

Diflucan
Web: www.diflucan.com
The US website run by the drug company (Pfizer) that owns one of the drugs shown in the film.

Meningitis Trust
Web: www.meningitis-trust.org.uk
A research, education and support organsiation offering information about meningitis and offering you the chance to support the trust through fundraising.

Meningitis Research Foundation
Web: www.meningitis.org
Meningitis Research Foundation is an international Charity described as at the forefront of fighting death and disability resulting from meningitis and septicaemia. The site offers information, support, research and the chance to get involved.

United Kingdom Thalassaemia Society
Web: www.ukts.org
Information and support from the UK society formed by parents of children suffering from Thalassaemia.

The Leukaemia Research Fund
Web: www.leukaemia-research.org.uk
The site offers a vast amount of information on all forms of leukaemia, lymphoma and related blood disorders.

Terrence Higgins Trust
Web: www.tht.org.uk
Information, support and services on HIV and AIDS from the Terrence Higgins Trust, a leading HIV & AIDS charity in the UK and the largest in Europe.

Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Web: www.nuffieldbioethics.org
The site contains the report mentioned in the film.

Central office for Research Ethics Committees (COREC)
Web: www.corec.org.uk
Corec, amongst other responsibilities, maintains an overview of the operation of the research ethics system in England on behalf of the Department of Health. You can find information on developments and procedure.

International Law - Nuremberg
Web: www.cirp.org/library/ethics/nuremberg
An article in the British Medical Journal, Dec 1996 detailing The Nuremberg Code (1947) and the medical experiments permissible on humans.

International bodies

Consumer Project on Technology & James Love
Web: www.cptech.org/ip/health
The Consumer Project on Technology  is international watchdog organisation started by Ralph Nader in 1995. James Love, who featured in the film, is a Director. The site contains masses of  information and resources on intellectual property rights and health care including detailed information on patents, WTO negotiations, compulsory licensing and Glivec.

World Health Organisation (WHO)
Web: www.who.int/medicines
The World Health Organization is the United Nations specialized agency for health. Its objective is to help the world population attain the highest possible level of health. The site sets out their policy on essential medicines.

World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Web: www.wto.org
Information and news from the WTO, who describe themselves as a rules-based, member-driven organization — all decisions are made by the member governments, and the rules are the outcome of negotiations among members.

BBC News: ‘Nigerians sue Pfizer over test deaths’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
A BBC news story describing how ‘a group of Nigerian families has sued the drugs giant Pfizer following the deaths of 11 children and injury to others who are said to have taken part in tests of a drug to treat meningitis’.

CBS News: ‘Tussle Over Generic AIDS Drugs’
www.cbsnews.com/
A news piece describing how ‘The World Health Organization has produced a list of companies making safe AIDS drugs, a move that could bring down the price of treatment in poor countries’.

The Guardian: ‘Ailing ethics’
www.guardian.co.uk/
An opinion piece on how: ‘a clinical trial raises disturbing questions about drug companies' activities in Africa’.

The Guardian: ‘The rich world's patents abandon the poor to die’
www.guardian.co.uk/
A Guardian comment piece on how ‘non-branded Aids drugs would save a generation in developing countries’.

The Guardian: ‘US wrecks cheap drugs deal’
www.guardian.co.uk/
News story on how ‘Cheney's intervention blocks pact to help poor countries after pharmaceutical firms lobby White House’.

Story Specific Groups

Korean Patient’s group
Korean Federation of Activists Fighting for Health Rights
Hye - Jean Byeon, Chief Manager Planning Board
Email:  [email protected]

CML Patient’s Group
Mr Kang
Email:  [email protected]

Base 21
Web: www.base21.org/base21hot/gleevec.html
Base 21 describes itself as a non-profit, independent grassroots information network for the Korean progressive movement. The site includes news and opinion on the Glivec protests in Korea including information on the attempt for a Compulsory License for Glivec.

Happy Childhoods
Web: www.happychildhoods.org/
A home in San Pedro Sula for children living with HIV/AIDS.

Project Honduras
Web: www.projecthonduras.com/hospicio_sanjose
A charity supporting an AIDS Hospice in San Pedro Sula, the town where Jairo lived in Honduras.

Pfizer
Web: www.pfizer.com
The website of the pharmaceutical giant which tested Trovan in Nigeria and sells the AIDS related drug Diflucan around the world.

Apotex
Web: www.apotex.com
The website of the Canadian pharmaceutical which funded the development of the thalassemia the drug, L1 (marketed as Ferriprox in Europe).

Novartis
Web: www.novartis.com
The website of the pharmaceutical company which developed the Leukemia drug Glivec.

Cipla
Web: www.cipla.com
Indian pharmaceutical company featured in the film, which produces generic versions of various drugs.

Other International Health Aid Agencies

Health Action International
Web: www.haiweb.org
HAI is a non-profit, global network of health, development, consumer and other public interest groups in more than 70 countries working for a more rational use of medicinal drugs. The site contains information about campaigns and publications.

Third World Network
Web: www.twnside.org.sg
The Third World Network is an independent non-profit international network of organizations and individuals involved in issues relating to development, the Third World and North-South issues.