Bangladesh Drug Factory Opens

There are alternatives to multinational corporate domination, as the People's Health Center in Bangladesh illustrates. Founded in 1971 by Dr. Zafrullah Chowdhury, the center - called Gonoshasthaya Kendra - provides health services for the local population at rates far below market prices (MM, August 1981).

In January, the health center held a celebration: the formal opening of its pharmaceutical factory, which for the past few months has begun to produce six different drugs. Marketed under their generic names, these drugs sell for 30 to 50% less than similar ones offered by multinational pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh.

"After more than five years of struggle, we feel ready to stage a formal opening," Chowdhury told Health Action International News.

To mark the opening, the health center held a conference on technology transfer to the third world. Development scholar Susan George (see interview, p. 11) was the keynote speaker, and she praised the work of Chowdhury and his colleagues.

"Examples of grass-roots, integrated, autonomous and authentic development are all too rare in third world countries," George said, noting that the health center "is receiving greater and greater support and is being actively encouraged by the people and the authorities of Bangladesh itself."