Dear Nathan,

I thought you were a vegetarian?

Before being concerned about the price of medications and where they are produced, how come you are not primarily concerned about the ability to obtain them AT ALL in Australia?

When I had a serious infection, I could not obtain antibiotics in pill form here. I could have been dead now had there not been the option to take vegetarian penicillin in liquid form, hard to manage, hard to swallow when your tonsils are swollen and tasting horribly.

With the long Indian tradition, it is more likely for medications made in India to be vegetarian.

Aiden,

"The government is subsidising the product, not the manufacturing process." The facts are, by keeping this circle going, the government is subsidising a product in terms of manufacturing and someone's quality of life.

An example: A Government may support (an organization or activity) financially or not directly. For example that can apply in the context that, the mining industry may continue to be subsidized, by the government or they may be in some other format.

So subsidies at any level, will inevitably have impacts in a range of areas, including manufacturing being subsidised. I may buy the product and as a result create an on-going cheap marketplace and retail environment for that product to thrive in.

If India, had similar pay rates as Australia and living conditions as we have, (with no human subsidies), its manufacturing may improve, as it would have to be more competitive and not be taken advantage of.

So I do question why I should have to pay less, so others can live in poverty. To me that is extremely self centered.

Yuyutsu,

Being vegetarian, I find out what is in medication. One time, I refused to take a medication, as it had gelatin in it. People who don't want Halal certified food for example, should read the label on the back of the product, not rely on cultures within certain countries.

NathenJ,

The decision to manufacture it in India does not adversely affect the Indians' quality of life. If anything it very slightly increases their quality of life, as it means more would be spent on employing Indians than if it were manufactured in Australia. Before you condemn companies for legally exploiting workers in poor countries, consider: how much poorer would the workers be if they didn't even have the opportunity to work for those companies?

The ongoing cheap marketplace is a good thing. Paying less frees up more money to spend on other things, so you'll be wealthier and Indians still have the opportunity to make those other things. 'Tis a strategy that's worked very well to lift China out of poverty. And before that, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan etc.

Dear Nathan,

Usually the labels on medication don't tell it all and at times even the pharmacist doesn't know, so I need to call the producing company to find out whether I can take a medication.

Lately, I find that all antibiotics in pill form in Australia contain gelatin and magnesium stearate.

Indians have a long vegetarian tradition and therefore are less likely to include such ingredients in their medications and more likely to indicate on their packages that the product is vegetarian. I use for example an Indian toothpaste because it is difficult to obtain in Australia any other toothpaste that is both vegetarian and contains fluoride.