Go Thailand! - ARV Drugs
In the fight against HIV / AIDS, access to cheap (i.e. very, very cheap) anti-retro-viral (ARV) drugs are essential. Developing Countries can't afford to pay the license fees being charged by big pharmaceutical companies, and so develop their own (or buy in cheap 'generics' from India). Until recently, BigPharma(TM) have been vehemently against this, as it involves bypassing patents, and therefore their vast profits.
Drug companies have to charge a premium to afford R&D, but developing countries can't afford them anyway, so turning a blind eye - as recent actions by Thailand, India and Brazil, as well as global public opinion, are increasingly forcing companies to do - doesn't actually cost the companies much as their drugs wouldn't be bought anyway.
Props to Thailand for taking a high moral stand on this issue and not caving to (US-led) demands to pay the royalties.
Drug companies have to charge a premium to afford R&D, but developing countries can't afford them anyway, so turning a blind eye - as recent actions by Thailand, India and Brazil, as well as global public opinion, are increasingly forcing companies to do - doesn't actually cost the companies much as their drugs wouldn't be bought anyway.
Props to Thailand for taking a high moral stand on this issue and not caving to (US-led) demands to pay the royalties.