Re: Estou aqui no Recife, Brasil

[mleuck <m.leuck@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Aug 14, 11:41=A0am, RLB <sa...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Aug 14, 11:34=A0am, JoeRaisin <JoeRai...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
>
> > The first time's always the hardest...
>
> I'll take your word for it.
>
> > I would hazard that Brazil is a bit more affluent than Thailand.
>
> Im not so sure about that. Neither ountry is listed among the 50
> poorest nations in the world. =A0I do know that Brazil's constitution
> guarantees health care to all citizens. =A0The quality is not the same
> in public hospitals as in private ones. =A0However, Brazil does provide
> free ARVs to all HIV/AIDS patients. =A0Brazil has also been able to
> limit the spread of the disease to less than half what the WHO
> predicted.

Brazil has a GDP of 1.99 trillion, Thailand 534 billion

> > Shouldn't the countries that CAN pay a bit more do so?
>
> The drug is actually quite inexpensive to produce. Development costs
> have long ago been covered. =A0Merck is actually far better off than
> many of the countries which buys its products.

And? Does that make it okay for Brazil to steal from them?

> > Have you any idea how much it costs to develop, test and bring to marke=
t anew drug? =A0I don't because my calculator only goes out to ten places.
>
> Yes. =A0Several years ago it was estimated around $100M. =A0Do you have
> any idea how much Merck has profited from AIDS drugs?

Profit? how dare they! That cost is closer to 500 million these days,
much of it caused by liability issues