The Dutch firm, Organon, promoted its anabolic steroids in 1982 for the treatment of malnutrition, poor appetite and slow growth in children in Malaysia, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Known side-effects of steroids include stunted growth, infertility, masculinisation of young girls and premature sexual development in young boys. Yet, in the Philippines, one of Organon s products notified buyers that it was safe for children. Exported drugs are often not even needed. In Bangladesh, a committee found nearly one-third of drug expenditure was for unnecessary and useless medicines .
Exports mean big profits to the drug giants.
In Southeast Asia, where 30 per cent of the import market belongs to Western Europe, retail prices are marked up by as much as 300 per cent. Pharmaceutical companies claim high profits are necessary to finance the development of new drugs. But the US Food and Drug Administration found that only 2.4 per cent of new drugs in 1980 represented important therapeutic gain over products already on the market. And Britain s Department of Health and Social Security concluded in the 1970s that most drug research was directed toward commercial returns rather than therapeutic need . Around 70,000 pilgrims a day come to Varanasi, the Hindu sacred city, for a cleansing dip.