The Private Market for Anti-TB Drugs in India
Chapter for:
When People Come First: Anthropology & Social Innovation in Global Health,
João Biehl & Adriana Petryna (Eds.) Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
DRAFT PAPER – PLEASE DO NOT CITE OR CIRCULATE WITHOUT
AUTHORS ' PERMISSION
Stefan Ecks & Ian Harper*
"There is No Regulation, Actually":
The Private Market for Anti-TB Drugs in India
*This paper emerged from the collaborative research project Tracing Pharmaceuticals in South
Asia (2006-2009) that was jointly funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the
Department for International Development (RES-167-25-0110). The project team comprised:
Soumita Basu, Gitanjali Priti Bhatia, Samita Bhattarai, Petra Brhlikova, Erin Court, Abhijit Das,
Stefan Ecks, Ian Harper, Patricia Jeffery, Roger Jeffery, Rachel Manners, Allyson Pollock,
Santhosh M.R., Nabin Rawal, Liz Richardson, and Madhusudhan Subedi. Martin Chautari
(Kathmandu) and the Centre for Health and Social Justice (New Delhi) provided resources drawn upon in writing this paper. Neither ESRC nor DFID is responsible for views advanced here. We would also like to thank Amy Davies and Reena Ricks for sharing their Edinburgh
MSc dissertations on public-private mixes with us.
1
Introduction: "74%"
Ten years ago, Paul Farmer called tuberculosis the "forgotten plague" (Farmer 2000:
185). While millions of people were dying every year of TB, the disease had become invisible for people living in rich countries. TB used to be at the forefront of public interest when it was rampant in the richer industrialized countries. But thanks to better nutrition, healthier living conditions, and more effective drugs, TB "ceased to bother the wealthy" (2000: 185). Against this forgetfulness, Farmer urged anthropologists to listen to the voices of the poor and to record their stories of deprivation and discrimination.
But he also said that ethnography was insufficient to grapple with the problem. A comprehensive perspective on
When People Come First: Anthropology & Social Innovation in Global Health,
João Biehl & Adriana Petryna (Eds.) Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
DRAFT PAPER – PLEASE DO NOT CITE OR CIRCULATE WITHOUT
AUTHORS ' PERMISSION
Stefan Ecks & Ian Harper*
"There is No Regulation, Actually":
The Private Market for Anti-TB Drugs in India
*This paper emerged from the collaborative research project Tracing Pharmaceuticals in South
Asia (2006-2009) that was jointly funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the
Department for International Development (RES-167-25-0110). The project team comprised:
Soumita Basu, Gitanjali Priti Bhatia, Samita Bhattarai, Petra Brhlikova, Erin Court, Abhijit Das,
Stefan Ecks, Ian Harper, Patricia Jeffery, Roger Jeffery, Rachel Manners, Allyson Pollock,
Santhosh M.R., Nabin Rawal, Liz Richardson, and Madhusudhan Subedi. Martin Chautari
(Kathmandu) and the Centre for Health and Social Justice (New Delhi) provided resources drawn upon in writing this paper. Neither ESRC nor DFID is responsible for views advanced here. We would also like to thank Amy Davies and Reena Ricks for sharing their Edinburgh
MSc dissertations on public-private mixes with us.
1
Introduction: "74%"
Ten years ago, Paul Farmer called tuberculosis the "forgotten plague" (Farmer 2000:
185). While millions of people were dying every year of TB, the disease had become invisible for people living in rich countries. TB used to be at the forefront of public interest when it was rampant in the richer industrialized countries. But thanks to better nutrition, healthier living conditions, and more effective drugs, TB "ceased to bother the wealthy" (2000: 185). Against this forgetfulness, Farmer urged anthropologists to listen to the voices of the poor and to record their stories of deprivation and discrimination.
But he also said that ethnography was insufficient to grapple with the problem. A comprehensive perspective on
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