Canada and generic aid's drugs: would Malthus be happy?

Today's online Toronto Star (Red Star News), at thestar.com has an editorial piece by Carol Goar entitled "Canadian Triumph Turns Sour."

It is an interesting story and not one to draw a lot of attention from the public or even the mainstream press. I'm even surprised it got covered at all frankly. That is the weird thing about the Red Star, sometimes in a backhanded way I have to admit that they actually impress me.

I'm happy to see this obscure story about how Canada under Jean Chretien's Liberals had been an early signer for supplying generic aids drugs to African countries stricken with the fatal epidemic. The whole idea being that the generic meds would be cheap and thus within access to even the modest means of most African states - particularily Uganda and Botswana the article singles out these two countries. Not that Canadian manufacturers would not have benefitted from this policy at the taxpayer's expense mind you. But many taxpayers would support this kind of policy and many of the countries involved are too poor to even be a market for the name-brand products.

A few brief paragraphs quoted from the article sum it all up nicely:

"Canadians reasonably assumed that, by now, anti-retrovirals from laboratories in Toronto and Montreal would be winging their way to Uganda and Botswana. In fact, that won't happen for months. It may not happen at all.

This story has no single culprit. The Pledge to Africa Act fell victim to political inertia, bureaucratic bungling and corporate self-interest. It was oversold in the first place and whittled down behind the scenes."

A less cynical person than I would automatically think that big business shut down this idea of largesse at their own expense: re reduced drug profits on high priced name brand aids drugs being usurped by cheaper generic Canadian drugs. Frankly, I would have to agree with those cynical people holding the big drug behemoths in contempt except for one thing...

None of that would explain the internal problems within a government that went to bat for this idea in the first place and for which had to take orders from the PMO. So how do snafu's like this happen anyways even when there is the will to make things happen?

Well dear reader, do a Google on 'Club of Rome' and note that one of our esteemed ex-PM's by the name of Pierre Trudeau was a known member. All I will tell you know is that the Club' is tied to the international financial and political scene aka: internationalists, and is a big fan of a renown thinker of the name of Malthus.'

If anybody figures out what I am on about then make a posting and we can do the cat and mouse of who is on who's tail. Should be fun.