Why is it that in the southern hemisphere 15 million people die each year from easily curable diseases? In the search for an answer to this question, Michele Mellare and Alessandro Rossi have conducted an accurate, in-depth enquiry into the mechanisms behind the monopoly held by Big Pharma, i.e. the cartel of the five major drugs manufacturers, which, directly or indirectly, is responsible for the persistence of apparently irresolvable public health emergencies. By showing the ties between the World Trade Organization (WTO), the drugs firms and the governments of the developed countries, and by focusing on the contentious relationship between the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), pharmaceutical patents and public health, The Drugs Ways reveals how the drugs giants block access to essential medicines.
