Time to hold pharmaceutical polluters to account

Rising global demand for cheap medicine has increased the production of pharmaceuticals in low-cost countries. A large part of our antibiotics and other medicines are today made in India, a country with a well-documented history of alarming effluent releases linked to drug manufacturing.

In the report The Health Paradox, conducted in collaboration with the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Swedwatch met with local communities and environmental human rights defenders in Hyderabad – also known as “the bulk drug city of India” – who for decades have protested about adverse impacts from the pharmaceutical industry. Many suffer from respiratory problems and skin conditions as well as decreased access to water and threats to their livelihoods.

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