Illicit Medicines in the Global South: Public Health Access and Pharmaceutical Regulation

by Mathieu Quet

Overview

This book investigates pharmaceutical regulation and the public health issue of fake or illicit medicines in developing countries.

The book analyses the evolution of pharmaceutical capitalism, showing how the entanglement of market and health interests has come to shape global regulation. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in India, Kenya, and Europe, it demonstrates how large pharmaceutical companies have used the fight against fake medicines to serve their strategic interests and protect their monopolies, sometimes to the detriment of access to medicines in developing countries. The book investigates how the contemporary dynamics of pharmaceutical power in global markets have gone on to shape societies locally, resulting in more security-oriented policies. These processes highlight the key consequences of contemporary "logistical regimes" for access to health.

Providing important insights on how the flows of commodities, persons, and knowledge shape contemporary access to medicines in the developing countries, this book will be of considerable interest to policy makers and regulators, and to scholars and students across sociology, science and technology studies, global health, and development studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032048147
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/26/2024
Series:	Routledge Global Health Series
Pages:	206
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mathieu Quet is a Senior Research Fellow in Sociology at Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Ceped, Université de Paris, France. His current research focuses upon the entanglements of science, technology, and development in postcolonial contexts.

Table of Contents

Introduction – Faith in Fakes? Chapter 1 – In the beginning, a conflict Part 1 - Pharmaceutical Geographies: the mutations of an industry Chapter 2 – The pharmaceutical globalization Chapter 3 – Selling at all costs Part 2 - Pharmaceutical security, between public health and the market Chapter 4 – The regulatory turn to security Chapter 5 – The exercise of pharmaceutical control Part 3 – Pharmaceutical logistics: commodities circulation and lifeforms Chapter 6 — Logistic regimes and the exercise of power Chapter 7 – Diverting flows, contesting power Conclusion Post-Scriptum

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer:
Description: The book's focus is on illicit medicines related to public health and regulations of the pharmaceutical industry. A key feature is the discussion about what actually constitutes fake or illicit drugs. The linkage between India and Kenya and how trade agreements between the two countries have also led to illicit medications provides a context for a more in-depth examination of this problem.
Purpose: The purpose is to illustrate how changes in science, technology, and global markets have contributed to illicit medicines, especially in the global southern regions, and, in turn, the impact these changes have had on public health. These are worthy objectives, which are met by case illustrations.
Audience: According to the book, t
Features: he intended audience is policymakers, regulators, STEM faculty and students, and those interested in sociology, global health, and development. I would add public health and health policy faculty and students. It meets the needs of the audience. The author is credible based on credentials.
Assessment: Much of the book focuses on the pharmaceutical industry as a global player in the marketplace. It also describes the regulatory environment, including the diverting of drugs due to the growth of pharmaceutical capitalism and the role of politics (logistic regime) in the flow of medications. The final chapter addresses illicit medicines in global pharmaceutical markets and uses the pandemic as a public health example highlighting illicit or corrupt practices. There is a list of illustrations to guide readers.

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