Grades 7-12, College, Adult
Directed by Reena Mohan
Produced by Television Trust for the Environment
DVD Purchase $195, Rent $45
VHS Purchase $195, Rent $45
US Release Date: 2006
Copyright Date: 2005
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-591-1
VHS ISBN: 1-59458-590-3
Subjects
Anthropology
Asian Studies
Business Practices
Ethics
Globalization
HIV/AIDS
Health
Human Rights
Humanities
India
Millennium Development Goals
Science
Technology
Society
Social Justice
Sociology
United Nations
Awards and Festivals
American Public Health Association Film Festival
Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival
Kill Or Cure?
India's $4.5 billion dollar pharmaceutical industry that serves the world's poor is at a crossroads.
 |
"The visual impact of the gripping documentaries in the Life 5 series make them extremely powerful teaching tools." Dr Jeremy Sarkin, Visiting Professor of International Human Rights, Tufts University |
The recent history of drug patents in India has had a significant impact on world health. For over fifteen years, India has been largely self-sufficient as a manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals. Poor families benefited from India's historic 1970 Drug Patent Law, which granted patents on the process rather than the product. Low costs means it's also been a major supplier in producing affordable drugs for the rest of the developing world, especially Africa and Asia.
Now, India's $4.5 billion pharmaceutical industry is at a crossroads following a new law introduced there in January 2005. TRIPS (Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) is an agreement drawn up by the World Trade Organization between 1986 and 1994 to ensure intellectual property rights are respected within international trade. The government says that despite the new law, they are committed to supplying drugs at an affordable price. But those actually working in the health system have doubts.
The other titles in the series are:
1. Roma Rights - Breaking the cycle of Roma poverty and persecution.
2. School's Out! - Is the private school option better in a Lagos shantytown?
3. Srebrenica - Looking For Justice - Examines the massacre at Srebrenica on its 10th anniversary.
4. Killing Poverty - Has the corruption in Kenya lessened under its new president?
5. The Great Health Service Swindle - Reversing the brain drain in doctors and nurses from developing countries.
6. The Donor Circus - Zambia tries to change the conditions for international aid.
7. For Richer, For Poorer - In Brazil the gulf between the rich and the poor is one of the biggest in the world.
9. The Silent Crisis - The Central African Republic struggles to avoid economic and social chaos.
10. Cash Flow Fever - One in ten people on the planet either send or receive money from abroad.
11. Back In Business? - After 11 years of civil war, can Sierra Leone expect tourism to improve the economy?.
12. Kosovo - A House Still Divided? - Resentment and property ownership issues remain as the UN Housing Property Directorate Mission ends.
13. Trouble In Paradise - Local inhabitants of the Maldives wait for promised tsunami aid.
Reviews
"The visual impact of the gripping documentaries in the Life 5 series make them extremely powerful teaching tools for university, and indeed, other classrooms. In succinct episodes they raise and contextualise some of the most critical issues in the world today. These episodes are produced in an extremely objective manner and allow an audience easily to come to grips with an array of complex problems. They ought to be an indispensable part of the teaching curriculum."
"The importance of these films is that they are intended to raise awareness about global issues in young people, and can be used by anyone for this purpose. The quality of the films is excellent. They are documentaries about the U.N. Millennium Development Goals and include brief interviews with people who are actually involved in MDG programs, from various institutions and from the grassroots to executive level...The objective evidence about the current global crisis of insecurity, poverty, gender inequalities, environmental degradation, and lack of international cooperation is presented in a way that is both realistic and non-inflammatory.