It is very clear that AIDS is an important health problem for the whole planet and specially for Africa.This kind of problems need the attention of all the factors with responsibilities in public health,starting with the governments but,of course,continuing with the pharmaceutical companies,the nongovernmental organizations,massmedia,physicians,the church ,the red cross etc.In this big fight against AIDS we cannot let all the difficulties in the back of the pharmaceutical companies but I believe they can do more than they did and all the others can do more than they did. It is true that the pharmaceutical companies have a moral obligation to help Africa ,like everybody who has the possibilities to help in this battle against this plague-AIDS.In the same time it is true that they have legal and moral obligation to company shareholders who invested their capital(maybe the retirement money) and they are expecting return of their investment.For the development of the new drugs against AIDS the companies invested huge amounts of money in research and if they will not recover the investments by selling patented drugs,they will not invest anymore and they will not find other better solutions against AIDS and other deseases of the third millennium( a good example in this idea is MSD-Merck company,very well known as the most ethical pharmaceutical company,who was obliged to renounce to the finding of the vaccine against AIDS because they loosed too much money with the drugs against AIDS already discovered ). So,from my point of vue,the only efficient solution,and moral in the same time,is to find a middle solution,not based only on the companies but not excluding the companies.This means that if,let’s say that we can oblige all the pharmaceutical companies to renounce to the patent and to sell very cheap all the drugs (or even give them for free) to the African countries,we will not obtain the expected results:the companies will loose a lot of money and the shareholders will loose their money and nobody will invest anymore in pharma industries and there will be no R&D and no new drugs and,in the same time,at the pacient will arrive only 12% from the drugs(the rest will disappear),if there will be no clinics where to do the treatment-no good results of the treatment,if there will be no education channels,no protection against sexual and blood transmission,no hygiene and no healthy conditions to live-sure the results will be disappointing on all the lines.The middle efficient solution is to put together all the actors,under the supervision of a recognized world organization,like UN: -the African governments will do their best in organizing small clinics in the areas more affected,in accepting there is a big corruption problem and organizing at least for this purpose a militarized supervision of the distribution of the drugs,they will sustain more education programs and they will accept and sustain the nongovernmental organizations which are dealing with this and health problems
-the well developed countries ,thru their governments,will recognize that AIDS is a world problem and will allocate funds for this,from which they will help the African governments (to organize better,to develop medical clinics and to do education …)and to buy drugs from the pharmaceutical MNE,at a sponsorised lower price than the market but allowing them in the same time to make their duty to their shareholders and to develop in the future
-the big pharma companies will involve much more themselves in this big project,they will sponsor the education and the health in the poor African countries,they will offer drugs for the governments at a much lower price than the market(but not so low to loose and destroy the financial situation of the companies),they will organize programs of training and education for African health providers,they will make donations for the first affected regions and they will cooperate much better with the nongovernmental organizations
-The Red Cross,Doctors without borders,Pharmacists without borders and all other organizations nonprofit involved in the world’s planet will have to sustain this project thru all the channels and modalities they can.
A global solution like this is the only realistic solution for fighting against AIDS.
Speaking about the way that pharmaceutical multinational enterprises fulfilled their moral obligations,I think that the three norms of ethical behavior identified for knowledge-intensive MNE(non-discrimination,transparency and honestity and selfcontrol and fairness)were respected by the pharma companies in this difficult situation.
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