Public attitude pharmaceutical industry

This policy may well be shortsighted, but competition is such that pharmaceutical companies would prefer to accept the risk and save the money. It is this attitude that is a major contributor to the poor image of the industry in the eyes of the public and the media. Unfortimately in this and many other fields, selfregulation has not worked, so we probably have to look to strengthening legal framework and setting down requirements if improvements are to be made. 

Despite the increased world consumption, problems remain in ensuring the availability and affordability of medicines, including those which are essential for treating the majority of common diseases prevailing in low and middle-income countries. The reasons for this are complex. They are not only related to hnancial constraints, but also to the attitudes of key actors in the health sector - a sector which comprises a network of relationships between the government, public and private providers in the health and pharmaceutical sectors, an important volume of industrial activity and the consumer. 

Parker adds, "As a member of the chemical industry, I ve also been gratified to see changes in the teachers attitudes toward applied science. Unfortunately, I think sometimes the public in general considers the term toxic chemicals to be one word. While in the program, the teachers see that Marion Merrell Dow s chemical research into pharmaceuticals is saving lives, not destroying them."... 

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