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| Medicine, monopoly and mass murder |
Its a while since i wrote any review here.. There is reason... My internet connection reached limit and we are surviving on KBPS speed. So, obvious that i am unable to watch any new movie. 'Fire in the Blood' was in my lappy since 2-3 months and as its a documentary so it took time to make mind to watch this film (or documentary whatever you say).
Its a documentary about AIDS-Drugs (ARVs ie AntiRetroViral Drugs) or more precisely about the battle between big pharma companies and global public health community. First AIDS drug was developed in 1963 (as Yusuf Hamied said ) but still in hands of big companies and due to high cost never reached pure Africans.
Documentary gives idea about, how big companies charging to much ($15000 per year) for ARVs since 1996 and poor Africans (and so south Americans and Asians/Indians) were forced to pay for that! 'The medicine to cure decease is where decease in not, and decease is where medicines are not!'
Yusuf Hamied an Indian and chairman of Cipla, (a man less famous than any outspoken Imam or RSS man in India ) helped global public health community by providing generic ARVs drugs for just $350 a year! at 45 times lesser prices!! Thanks to documentary, I got know about this great man!
Battle haven't ends here, government's laws in African country were not allowing generic drugs in the countries (influenced by US policies), but similar to declaring Anthrax as medical emergency in USA, here in Africa states started declaring AIDS as medical emergency and allowed generic drugs produced by Cipla.
Documentary ends at new discussion about regulations of TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and WTO's motives behind it.
* As of 2003 only 8000 people in Africa were able to get medicines of AIDS, after generic drugs, in 2010 8 Million people reached medicines.
* 85% of R&D on pharma sector is government funded (means, public-money funded). It means companies are investing less on developing new drugs and just earning!
Director/ Producer: Dylan Mohan Gray
Watch For : Many reasons.... To understand Global Public Health, To know struggle of people for medicine, Desmund Tutu, Yusuf Hamied, Zackie Achmat's efforts.
Do not Watch If : Its a must watch, there is no reasons to not watch it.
My Rating 100/100 (yeah, its 100%) !!!
"I was enraged as I watched, thinking of those years I spent as the Envoy, watching people die. [...] I rarely watch 'AIDS documentaries'; they're remarkably repetitive as a rule, largely uninspired and yielding almost nothing new. [Fire in the Blood] is in a wholly different category; a terrific, riveting documentary... dramatic, compelling, but most of all, wonderfully humane. [Gray is] a remarkably gifted documentary film-maker."
-- Stephen Lewis (Former (2001–06) United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa)