Cultural Survival Reports on Drugs and Health in the Third World
Keyword(s):
Excessive and irrational use of western drugs presents the potential for major health problems in the Third World, as surveyed in Cultural Survival's fall newsletter. Drugs and vaccines are the most frequently used remedies, with average Third World expenditures representing 40 to 60% of total health care costs. Inexpensive measures to control diarrhea, respiratory infections, diptheria, measles, and whooping cough—major causes of death for children under 5 years old—are neglected in favor of the purchase of "expensive drugs often of dubious utility for the majority of the people."