Pharmaceutical growth versus health equity in India: when markets fail.

Aim: To reveal inequity in health in India. Subject and methods: The global paradigm of the knowledge economy propounds that growth and equity will occur if there is a free-market economy without state intervention and if patents are provided as incentives for innovation. In this paper, we explore the veracity of this thesis by investigating growth in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors in India, and by looking at equity issues through the lens of gender health and health costs for poor consumers. We used data from current publications to support this thesis. Results: We found that growth has been characterized by multiple handicaps and oligopoly, with the nature of expansion not having relevance for the disease profiles in India. The scenario of gender health and health costs of the poor is grim due to state retrenchment and neglect of the provision of public good, such as in health matters. Conclusion: One can conclude that equity has not occurred under a growing pharmaceutical sector. This finding has huge implications for public policy in India and other emerging nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]