This film focuses on the debate between the established pharmaceutical industry and the manufacturers of low-cost medicine. The staggeringly high prices of medicines all over the world are a matter of life and death to millions of people suffering with HIV/AIDS in Africa. The pandemic is spreading quickly in Eastern Europe and Asia; it is expected that India too will suffer the same fate. Should HIV/AIDS medicine be deployed on a large scale?

CIPLA, a pharmaceutical company in India, received worldwide attention in 2002 when the company offered to provide South Africa with low-cost AIDS medication. CIPLA is able to supply medicine cheaply because India does not recognize any patent rights on medicine. However, South Africa does. American and European pharameutical companies jointly threatened to file a lawsuit if the South African government allowed such imports to take place. Under international pressure the companies withdrew their threat and cut down the prices of their products to one-tenth of the original prices.

Pharmaceutical companies claim their exorbitant prices cover research and development yet the industry won't provide public access to its development costs. In the U.S. they actually won a lawsuit to prevent Congress from gaining access to those figures. Will saving lives win out over profits?

"Highly Recommended. This is an excellent film about the imbalance of price scales between developing countries and the United States & Europe, and its impact on developing countries. The film is to be applauded for its objectivity and skillful demonstration of the problem." Michael J. Coffta, Business Librarian, University of Pennsylvania for Educational Media Reviews on Line