Politics of essential drugs

Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury is widely regarded as the father of Bangladesh's National Drug Policy which pioneered a way through the maze of modern, Western-manufactured drugs and developed a more affordable health strategy based in part on the local manufacture of a relatively small number of essential generic drugs. With the World Health Organization supporting the same approach, the Bangladesh experiment became influential in shaping other countries' health policies.

In this book, Dr Chowdhury tells for the first time the story of this experiment, including its achievements and limitations. He sets it in a global context, discusses the pressures mobilized (both now and at the time) by the pharmaceutical corporations and others to reverse the new strategy, and reflects on the relevance of Bangladesh's experience for other countries.