Pharmaceutical industry, innovation and challenges for public health: Case studies from Malaysia and Pakistan

Abstract

This study analyses the effect of pro-industrial pharmaceutical policies by the governments of Malaysia and Pakistan and their affect on public health. The study concludes that the pharmaceutical industry is not 'novel' and the desire to turn it into an important economic player is not being achieved. Governmental support given to the pharmaceutical industry is not a guarantee for access to and use of medicines as the issues such as promotion of branded drugs, self-sufficiency and high medicine prices still remain. New approaches are required to understand the competing interest between industrial policy and drug policy by including consumers and social scientist in this debate. © 2011 The Authors. JPHSR © 2011 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.