Approximate reading time: 9 minutes, 37 seconds
Why do I call them evil? Well, because they live off of illness, off of other people’s misfortune, and the more sick there are, the happier they are because the more they earn. A weapons manufacturer can say that he makes them for war and if innocent civilians die, it is not his fault but the one who uses them. The oil companies will be able to say that it is not their fault that the price of oil rises but rather that of those who apply sanctions to some producers,
Pharmaceutical companies could say that they make medicines for diseases, and that is a good thing. But notice that the cost of manufacturing a medicine is lower the more quantity it is manufactured. If a company makes 50 aspirin, each one will cost And the one who made 50 aspirin will be able to sell each one for 10 pesos, for example, and her profit will be limited, but she will possibly make a profit. The one who manufactured a million aspirin will be able to sell them for one cent each and her profit will be gigantic.
I wanted to put here the actual manufacturing cost of a Bayer aspirin, but it was impossible, these data are as reserved as a state secret. If any reader could find out, they would become famous.
Of course, the prices are not set only by the manufacturers, there are many intermediaries in this business: large and small distributors, very good pharmacies and other bad ones, etc. Prices change depending on the neighborhood, depending on the city, depending on the country. But that’s the least important thing, those who win and really win are the drug manufacturers, who are few.
Let’s see now, which are the largest and most important pharmaceutical companies in the world in 2023.
There are different criteria but they are very similar and may depend on the vaccines and the year in which the evaluation was done.
These are the most valuable pharmaceutical brands of 2023, according to Brand Finance:
- Johnson & Johnson. Valuation: 12,759 million dollars (million)
- Roche. Valuation: 8,466 million dollars.
- Pfizer. Valuation: 6,201 million dollars.
- Merck & Co. Valuation: 5,769 million dollars.
- AstraZeneca. Valuation: 5,595 million dollars.
- Bayer. Valuation: 5,471 million dollars. …
- Bristol Myers Squibb. Valuation: 4,403 million dollars.
Aspirin may be the best-selling medicine in the world, which is why I have taken it as an example. Every second, 2,500 aspirin are consumed. Every year there are 200 million worldwide. Other calculations put them in tons, imagine. Please don’t criticize my calculations because the different numbers on the internet are what I tell you. You could do the math if you want. A total of 350 billion aspirins have been sold since 1897, when Felix Hoffman, a Bayer chemist, discovered acetylsalicylic acid. Although it is not addictive, aspirin has more followers than ever and new applications are discovered every year.
In reality, what would matter is not the price at which they sell them, but how much it costs to make them.
You can imagine how much Bayer has earned for each aspirin. Even if it were cents or thousandths of cents, it is an incalculable fortune.
Now there are more expensive medications, for specific diseases that are consumed less, but like aspirin there are not two.
I’m quickly going to look at the price of aspirin in different countries.
The retail price is not only set by the manufacturer, but also by the pharmacy and other intermediaries. The pharmacy can be a very elegant pharmacy or a very modest one. The price changes if you buy it online or in person. It also varies depending on the neighborhood, the province and above all, the country.
I had to convert the price to dollars to be able to compare one country with another, although the value of the dollar changes all the time, but nothing is worse.
Well, the thing is more or less like this:
IN MEXICO: A box of 40 500 mg tablets costs about 50 Mexican pesos or less, or about 3 dollars
IN CHILE: The same box costs 3840 Chilean pesos, or around 4 dollars.
IN SPAIN: An identical box costs 5.38 euros, or about 5 dollars
IN THE UNITED STATES: A box of 40 500 mg tablets costs about $20
Well, I already said that prices can be very variable depending on different factors, but it is proven that in Latin America and Europe they are sold at similar prices, although in Europe they are a little more expensive, as is understandable since people earn more. On the other hand, in the United States they are very expensive. And why would that be?
Now we put aspirin aside and see why in the United States all medications are the most expensive in the world.
Well, because we all know that the private sector is much more important to them than the public sector, that is, the government. There is a growing gap between those who have a lot of money and those who have little. This is the root cause of many problems now occurring in the United States that afflict many people: good health care is virtually inaccessible, housing is inadequate, an education system is overpriced and underperforming. Pharmaceutical companies have enormous political influence and that is why they let them do whatever they want. There is no price control because that is inconceivable there. And if there are people with few or no resources, who do not have access to medicine, it is their own fault, the gringos say. I have a friend who lived there and knows well what is happening in the United States, and he told me:
“The degrees of poverty and helplessness that I saw recently, I had never witnessed before. And that accompanied by an extraordinarily rarefied political climate. And, taking as a reference what I saw in California, a “liberal” state, I can easily imagine the debacle in the rest of the United States..
And I add that a strange gerontocracy reigns in that country, and that of the two candidates for the presidency, one is a decrepit old man and the other an unbalanced old man. The prices of medicines and many other things are impossible, but governments don’t care. For example, Biden has said that barbed wire should not be placed against migrants in the Rio Grande, but the governor of Texas continues to place it and migrants, especially children, get tangled and drown there, and nothing happens. Trump, the day he wakes up in a bad mood he can press the atomic bomb button. Look in whose hands this world is.
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE IN MEXICO
The country’s current government has had quite a few difficulties with pharmaceutical companies, problems that date back to previous governments: corruption, inefficiency, cronyism, etc., etc.
Certain companies concentrated 60% of sales to the government in 2018, which is viewed with suspicion by Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), due to possible “influencerism.” For this reason, his administration vetoed three companies that distribute pharmaceutical products, so that they cannot participate in direct bids and awards in the health sector. He added AMLO that if a company sells more than 30% of all medicines, there may be a monopolistic practice contrary to the Constitution.
And he pointed out that if there are blockade attempts so that we do not have a supply of certain merchandise and certain medicines, then the borders are opened and whatever is required is purchased in the world, but it is not possible to continue with corruption.
Given the above, there has been a certain shortage of medicines in Mexico, which was exacerbated by the impact of covid 19 and, above all, due to the increase in prices imposed by monopolistic importing companies.
To solve the problems of shortages, which sometimes occur in certain States, in Social Security, in a specific Hospital, the AMLO government has created the so-called Wellbeing Megapharmacy. The federal government or this pharmacy may import medications from any country or place, taking care of the interests and money of the Mexican people.
The Megapharmacy is probably the largest in the world; The medicine you need will arrive within 48 hours at the latest, free of charge.
It will supply 20 thousand medical units; Patients themselves can report by phone at 5595-00911
It is for 50 million Mexicans without social security who are served by IMSS-Bienestar (IMSS is the Mexican Social Security Institute, which serves workers in the private sector and the uninsured) 20 million IMSS insured and their families, and all workers covered by Issste (The Issste serves federal government workers.
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE IN CHILE
In Chile there have always been very good doctors. Before the dictatorship, everyone went to the patients’ houses, but not now. Unfortunately, it seems that taking patients to the doctor’s office happens all over the world. I can’t understand how a seriously ill person, for example a child, is going to be taken out of bed to take him to the doctor, but that’s how it is.
The Boric government had an extraordinary health minister, Dr. Begoña Yarza, daughter of Simón Yarza, a Chilean exile in Cuba. She trained on the island and then moved to Chile because she thought she could be more useful there. Ella Begoña was director of the best Chilean hospitals and clinics. Boric appointed her minister of health, but since she was not a member of any political party, the President ended up changing her with her typical opportunism. Now Dr. Ximena Aguilera is Minister of Health, I understand that she also has a good professional resume and is a member of Democratic Socialism, a center-left coalition. You know what that is, I don’t.
Recoleta
To talk about health in Chile, it is essential to talk about the Recoleta commune in Santiago and its mayor Daniel Jadue, a colleague of Palestinian origin. The Palestinian community in Chile is the largest in the world, I don’t know why: about 300,000 or 400,000 people.
But we are going to explain who Daniel Jadue is, just in case people from another country read this.
He was born in Chile in 1967, so he is now 57 years old, I think he is divorced and has a son or daughter. If you want to know more about his family, look it up on the internet because I can’t go into that much detail. I’ve seen photos of him and he looks nice.
Jadue has several professions: architect, sociologist from the University of Chile and also a diploma in total quality management from the Universidad Católica del Norte and candidate for a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning and Specialist in Social Housing, also from the University of Chile. He is an accredited consultant of the Municipal Services Accreditation System for the implementation in municipalities of the Quality Management Model for Municipal Services.
He is a member of the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh), considered quite unruly, which is still interesting. Daniel Jadue has served as Mayor of the Santiago commune of Recoleta. This commune was quite poor, generally inhabited by lower middle class people, although the Law School of the University of Chile is located there. That’s what we called it before, now I guess it’s called Law School or something similar. We inherited all these words and names from the dictatorship, because in addition to being murderers and thieves, they were impressively corny.
Daniel Jadue has been and will be mayor of Recoleta for three terms, from 2012 to mid-2024, since for legal reasons he cannot be re-elected again.
Under his command, the commune changed its face. And what did Jadue do to achieve this?
The first thing he did was create a Popular Pharmacy, which sells medicines much cheaper than others. As it does? I don’t know, but I understand that he buys medicines just like other pharmacies and then sells them with almost no profit, financing his pharmacy with the municipal budget.
The pharmaceutical companies tried to boycott him, but the maneuver was discovered and failed.
After the pharmacy, he created the Popular Optician, Open Schools, Health in your Neighborhood, Popular Real Estate, the Open University of Recoleta, the Popular bookstore “Recoletras”, the “Energía Popular”, the popular dentist, among others and also many initiatives cultural And all this with the municipal budget? I suppose so, although the enthusiastic neighbors also collaborate as much as they can. These multiple benefits are only for the inhabitants of Recoleta and now everyone wants to live there.
The man has become famous throughout Chile and abroad. Many Chilean mayors try to imitate him and he helps them. But, to do what Daniel Jadue has done in Recoleta, you have to be very honest, very disinterested in money, love the people deeply, in short be very cool and not all mayors are.
In 2021, the Chilean Communist Party proclaimed him as a presidential pre-candidate for the 2022/2026 period. He competed in the primaries with Gabriel Boric and others and lost. How could this be possible? I suppose because in Chile there is very little information and people still believe that communists eat raw babies. Daniel Jadue has never invited me to eat at his house or anywhere else, since I live in Mexico and I am also an unbearable old woman. But I am convinced that he does not eat raw or cooked guaguas, I give you my word.
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE IN CUBA
Cuban medicine is famous throughout the world for many reasons. One of them is that it offers free and quality services for all citizens. Cuba’s socialist government considers access to health to be a fundamental human right. Cuban doctors work in areas where local doctors do not go. The export of medical services is also a crucial line of internationalism and Cuba’s solidarity with the people of the world.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba has reported that the contingent of health workers includes 15,000 doctors, 2,300 ophthalmologists, 15,000 graduates, 5,000 health technicians and 800 service people working in 60 countries.
The attraction of Cuban doctors for many developing countries is that they are willing to work in places that nationals avoid, such as slums or in hard-to-reach rural areas, where people’s purchasing power is minimal. They have also gone to dangerous places, such as those where Ebola has occurred and that other doctors avoid.
Health in Cuba is public, free. There are no private hospitals or private health insurance because they are not needed. In addition, medical education is also free. The basic degree is studied for six years and is very practical.
Cuban medicine is outstanding in the field of scientific research, as Cuba was the first country to receive official recognition from the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating the transmission of HIV from mothers to children.
In 2017, the Pan American and World Health organizations (PAHO/WHO) recognized the progress made by Cuba in the area of research, whose model is at the level of a developed country,
Other triumphs of Cuban medical research are having created very important medicines. Here I put the five main ones with the greatest international prestige.
1.CIMAvax-EGF vaccine: It is the world’s first vaccine against lung cancer. The CIMAvax-EGF vaccine is indicated in patients with lung tumors in advanced stages
2.Heberprot -P: It is a unique medicine, used in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer. Based on human growth factor, it is injected directly into the lesion. The application of Heberprot –P has decreased the amputation rate.
3.VA-MENGOC-BC, very effective vaccine against Meningococcus BYC: VA-MENGOC-BC, a bivalent vaccine composed of outer membrane vesicles of meningococcus B and capsular polysaccharide of meningococcus C. It is currently the only medicine available in the world against meningococci B and C. .
4.Melagenina Plus: Created in Cuba to cure vitiligo, it is made from human placenta which has properties that stimulate the production of melanocytes. Studies have shown its effectiveness in 86 percent of treated cases.
5.Vcradles Abdala against covid 19, of which Mexico received almost three million doses and applied them with complete success.
All this has been despite the merciless blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba for 60 years, for no reason and which keeps its inhabitants in poverty. In the United Nations General Assembly, all countries vote against the blockade except two: the United States and Israel. That is why Mexico has proposed that all these countries should not limit themselves to voting against the blockade, but rather break it in practice, trading with Cuba as much as possible. Mexico has done it and the Yankees have had to accept it. The thing is that the Yankees, despite everything, have a certain bewildered respect for dignified, honest and patriotic governments. They despise others.
Margarita Labarca Goddard