What's at stake in the fake? A contemporary cultural history of fake drugs and India (360G-Wellcome-205362_Z_16_Z)

Preliminary investigations suggest the global anti-counterfeiting movement's regular claims about India's role as a major producer of fake drugs are poorly aligned with observable evidence. If accurate, these findings suggest that practical measures to strengthen access to safe medicines--for the world’s rich and poor--need substantial, and urgent, rethinking. In order to test inital findings, this award will support further research into the nature of India's pharma sector since c1970 (size, expertise, domestic and export markets), with particular attention to the role of India as the global south's generic drugs manufacturer. In particular, materials will be gathered from official and unofficial published archives (in India and elsewhere) as well as from interviews in India with those who write policy, those tasked with implementing policy, drugs manufacturers, pharmacists, prescribing physicians and medical representatives. Global health scholars have already noted India's generics within anti-counterfeiting activities. India's reputation as a fakes manufacturer, however, has gone largely unquestioned. Findings will be aired at the National Bioethics Conference (India) as well as at a bespoke international medical humanities workshop. These presentations will form the basis of published outputs as well as an Investigator Award application to be submitted to the Trust in July 2017.