Generic Drugs Are Out of Reach for World’s Poorest

An employee serves a customer at a pharmacy during a Covid-related lockdown in Mumbai in 2021. India has a $50 billion pharmaceutical sector and is a hub for generic drug manufacturing. 

Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg

Hi, it’s Chris in Mumbai. A recent report showed how impoverished people are still having trouble accessing generic medications. But first...

I cover health in India, a major global hub for the production of generic medication. So I was particularly interested by a new study that found efforts by top generic drugmakers to expand access to essential medicines are coming up short for many of the world’s poorest patients.