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Humanitarianism from Below: Sowa Rigpa, the Traditional Pharmaceutical Industry, and Global Health
Medical Anthropology, 2019
In this article I explore, for the first time, the relationship between Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan medicine) and global health, tracing "the global" in ethical discourses and pharmaceutical innovation practices of Tibetan medical practitioners. I argue that Sowa Rigpa's engagement with the world and its global health activities outside China can be understood as a form of "humanitarianism from below," while its industrialization in China aligns with global health in different ways. In providing new insights into recent developments of Sowa Rigpa, I aim to decenter the notion of humanitarianism and contribute to a broader understanding of global health.
Routledge, 2022
This chapter analyzes the interactions between a for-profit private actor, the pharmaceutical company Merck, and a public international institution, the World Health Organization, in order to fight river blindness (onchocerciasis), a neglected tropical disease. The chapter shows how, starting from the 1970s, cooperation between the two contributed not only to the creation of a drug donation program (the Mectizan Donation Program) but also to the forging of a new model for international health policies on neglected diseases. It adopts a socio-historical approach to develop the ‘thick description’ of a single case study and the tracking of institutional processes and social interactions. The chapter demonstrates how both actors shape each other, how their increased interdependence transforms and co-constitutes the field of the fight against onchocerciasis, both in terms of policy content (a donated drug taken by humans replaces vector control programs) and in terms of institutional shape (creation of new structures and involvement of new actors in the fight against the disease – experts, communities, and NGOs). It also illuminates larger trends in the co-constitution of international policies, as this case prefigures contemporary debates on the increased participation of non-state actors (NGOs, philanthropic foundations, corporations, etc.) in the design of global public policies.
PHARMACEUTICAL DONATION POLICY IN AFRICA CRITICAL ASPECTS
Медико-фармацевтический журнал "Пульс", 2023
African hospitals and medical groups' main sources of financial assistance include many free recipes and medical donations. Similar operations are also conducted in South Africa. In some cases, they may be an alternative to income-generating activities, such as compensation for medical care or other activities. However, it is important to understand not only how to attract such funds, but also how to effectively distribute and employ them. The article addresses these, and other problems, related to pharmaceutical donation policies in Africa. Objective - The purpose of this research is to highlight the fact that the recipient ofpharmaceutical donation is mainly responsible for identifying his own needs. It is critical that African medical institutions prevent unwanted pharmaceutical donations and donations that arrive in the country unexpectedly and unfavorable. A well-structured donation strategy can protect a country from receiving medications, even if it is free, because it can sometimes cause more harm than good. Methods - The purpose of the study is achieved using methods based on the interaction of the metaphysical and dialectical analysis, which allows for the exploration of various aspects of the mechanism of humanitarian activities, considering the requirements of complexity and objectivity of the research. Result - This assessment served as a critical foundation and framework for re-visiting the text of the legislation governing the acceptance of medical donations in Africa
Medical Humanitarianism and its Mutations
2013
This thesis examines the ways in which the African Medical and Research Foundation may be considered a ‘mutation’ of medical humanitarianism, across both time (through the course of the organization’s history) and space (from humanitarianism’s birthplace in Europe to its headquarters in East Africa). To this end, the author conducted field research with staff at the Kenya Country Office between June and September, 2012, involving participant observation, field visits, and archival research. In Chapter 1, the Foundation’s commitment to projects of medical, technical and bureaucratic modernity in East Africa is explored, which complicates analyses of humanitarian minimalism. In Chapter 2, the organization’s history is discussed as a reference point for understanding its unique characteristics. In Chapter 3, the organization's research activities are unpacked as additions to, and transgressions of, boundaries between medical humanitarianism and global health.
Dilemmas in access to medicines: a humanitarian perspective
We challenge the assertion made by Govind Persad and Ezekiel Emanuel (Aug 27, p 932) that “expanding access to less effective or more toxic [antiretroviral] treatments rather than requiring the worldwide best treatment in all settings” is ethically justifiable.
South-South humanitarianism: The case of Covid-organics in Tanzania
World Development, 2021
Tanzania's President sent a plane to Madagascar in May 2020 to bring a shipment of Covid-Organics, a purported cure and prevention for COVID-19. The herbal remedy was described as a gift to help African countries in need. Drawing on preliminary data in English and Kiswahili from unstructured participant observation, social and legacy media available online and shared through contact channels, and ongoing conversations, we explore the Tanzanian policy response to COVID-19. What can the exemplary case of Covid-Organics in Tanzania help us to understand about South-South humanitarian assistance (SSHA) in times of crisis? We suggest that Covid-Organics has enabled the government to project a link to latent debates about Pan-Africanism and Julius Nyerere's legacy and Madagascar's SSHA has provided an opportunity for a public reflection on Africa's place in the world. For some, the remedy's 'Africanness' is its comparative advantage, even promising a continental renaissance. For others, the lack of scientific evidence or approval by global health authorities like WHO is delegitimizing. These findings suggest that receivers of SSHA make sense of it in both a broad, post-colonial discursive context and in a specific context of local contestation. If the promise of this particular form of aid is its ability to transcend deep divisions between North and South, the case of Covid-Organics suggests that SSHA draws on deep ideologies of Pan-Africanism; is increasingly important in crises that are global; and like other forms of humanitarianism, reflects elite politics and priorities rather than prioritizing the distribution of humanitarian goods and decreasing inequality.
On 21 October 1987, Merck & Co. announced plans to donate MECTIZAN™ (ivermectin),* a new medicine designed to combat onchocerciasis (river blindness), for as long as it might be needed, wherever needed. Merck took this action in collaboration with international experts in parasitology, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies in order to reach those affected by the illness. This unprecedented decision came 12 years after the discovery of iver-mectin by Merck scientists and nearly seven years after the first human clinical trials in Dakar, Senegal. Raymond V. Gilmartin, Merck chairman and chief executive officer, has since reaffirmed the company's commitment to donate 'as much MECTIZAN as necessary, for as long as necessary, to treat river blindness and to help bring the disease under control as a public health problem'. 1 The history of MECTIZAN presents a complex pattern of scientific acumen, perseverance in clinical research, international negotiations, multi-sectoral collaboration and the interaction of health and development. This chapter outlines the history of the MECTIZAN Donation Program, concluding with some observations on lessons learned during its first 15 years and their implications for successful public–private partnerships in global health. 2