Stop producing painkillers that threaten others’ lives and wellbeing

Sweden is spearheading international social responsibility and is currently deciding whether or not to change from subsidization of the cheapest available drugs to that of the environmentally safe.

If you take drugs, you have probably noticed how the packaging differs from pack to pack. It contains the same active ingredient but Sweden subsidizes the drug based on the lowest price. It’s like a price war on drugs. But we pay less and are none the wiser.

Many pharmaceutical patents have come to an end and world competition for the cheapest drug production is on. Wages are lower in Asia and other countries. Is that why drugs produced in India are cheaper? Apparently not.

Painrelief has a price. In Patancheru, India, pharmaceutical production was banned by the Indian government as far back as 1996. This has been defied by the industry. Production continuesand is on the verge of expansion, but there are no safety standards that protect the land, water and health ofthe people of Patancheru.

This area is sadly not unique. Effluent from pharmaceutical production is discarded directly in surface water. The fish are dying in what the locals call the "chemical lake". The earth has been degraded, water contaminated and human health destroyed. Just so we can pop cheaper pills.
We want to keep the costs down but not at the expense of others' lives and well-being. Nor at the expense of the world’s environment and water sources.

This is nothing new for Sweden. Pharmacists first sounded the alarm about pharmaceutical effluents in surface water in the nineteen nineties and work has been ongoing since then to reduce the risks by classifying drugs environmentally. Sweden is spearheading international social responsibility by helping countries like India, China and Brazil to become aware of the risks and initiate conversations about safe production standards.

In the next couple of months the Swedish government faces an important decision that may increase pharmacutical costs a little. They have the possibility of taking an even greater initiative that will require safer production standards worldwide.
The environmental pharmaceutical classification is complete and the government is deciding whether to base subsidies on environmental classification or to continue with subsidies based on the cheapest price.

By choosing to subsidise environmentally classified pharmaceuticals the Swedish government sends an important signal to the rest of the world. Will we continue to buy cheaper subsidized drugs at the expense of others’ safety.
Why not even raise the price of pharmaceuticals a little so we can support the development of safety measures in the affected countries? Design a program that supports the restoration of land, water purification, health interventions and training of local authorities in the areas that have been damaged by drug production in the world, starting in Patancheru, India. If you would like to support this program please make a contribution and mark it Patancheru at http://www.envirohealthmatters.org/content/donations

Please support the Swedish government’s initiative to exercise their social responsibility internationally.