Essential viewing: The Constant Gardener If you're planning a trip to the cinema this week, you should definitely check out the new film from City of God director Fernando Meirelles, The Constant Gardener. The film, starring Ralph Fiennes and adapted from the novel by John le Carré, highlights the issue of corporate social responsibility and the huge profits made by the pharmaceutical industry. Whilst the film is pure fiction, the reality is that more than two billion people in developing countries have no regular access to the drugs they need. Companies can set these extremely high prices because global trade rules mean every country has to grant 20-year patent protection on new medicines. Patents give companies the exclusive rights to make, use and sell the patented product. These rules stop competition from manufacturers who could otherwise produce cheap copies of the drug, called generics. Oxfam is calling for the World Trade Organisation to reform its rules so that poor country governments have the right to obtain the cheapest possible life-saving medicines, without facing the threats of legal challenges or trade sanctions. We're also calling for pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline to fully support these reforms. More info on the Make Trade Fair website >> Channel 4 review of The Constant Gardener >> Support the Make Trade Fair campaign >> Have you seen the film? What did you think? Let us know your thoughts below... posted at 1:14 PM | Permalink 0 comments   Comments: GenerationWhy and Oxfam accept no responsibility for the content of comments in the Blog. Post a Comment

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