Novartis and its Malaria Treatment “Coartem”

Fabrikstrasse 2, 4056 Basel

By Salome Rohner

Malaria and Neo-imperialism

Figure 1 Figure 1 Coartem. Photo taken for marketing purposes https://mybigpharmacy.com/product/coartem-80-480/ accessed 4.7.2022

In a city like Basel, where the pharmaceutical sector dominates the local economy and the urban landscape, it is crucial to understand how colonial ideas and heritage influenced and linger in the structures of power and profit in the medical industry. Using the example of Coartem, a new treatment for Malaria by Novartis, we show in which ways pharmaceutical companies are involved in questions of neo-imperialism.

The World Health Organization (WHO) allows Novartis to sell Coartem for a reduced price to patients with limited financial possibilities. The deal was proudly advertised by Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella as a generous and heroic gift, though for many affected people the lowered price of 2.50 US Dollar is still unaffordable and has to be subsidized. The depiction of a Person of Color on the packaging of the drug is problematic, as it suggests that only dark-skinned humans can be affected by Malaria, which is a racist assumption. It illustrates the Western attitude of "othering" the medical problem of malaria and attributing it to persons with dark skin by choosing to show a person of a particular phenotype on the package. However, the geographic distance to areas affected by malaria seems not to be an obstacle in order to earn money from it.

The medicine’s active ingredients stem from the plant artemisia annua, which has been known in China for centuries and its derivates - artemisinin – have been used against malaria in Asian countries ever since. The basic research on the combination concoction co-artemether was made by Chinese partner firms of Novartis who couldn’t bring the medicine to the international market themselves due to license- agreements made in 1994. Owning the rights to Coartem, Novartis controls its production, pricing, and sale alone.

Figure 2 Artemisia annua art installation Uriel Orlow. Museum der Kulturen. Photo by Claske Dijkema 3.10.2021

In 2020 Uriel Orlow picked up the topic in an art installation which concentrated on the indigenous medical plant artemisia annua and its role as an accessible treatment for malaria on the African continent. While it promotes Coartem as a treatment, WHO does not recommend the use of artemisia, although studies show its effectiveness, it can be grown in local gardens and prepared as a simple infusion. The appropriation of the discourse around Malaria and its economic ramifications by western medical institutions and companies can be read as neo-imperial tendencies. Orlow in his work said: “I begin to realize that the history of malaria treatments, like the history of Western medicine in general, is inseparable from the history of colonial extraction.”

References

Novartis. (2015, July 16). Novartis malaria treatment Coartem® 80/480mg receives WHO prequalification, enabling greater access for patients. https://www.novartis.com/news/media-releases/novartis-malaria-treatment-coartem-80480mg-receives-who-prequalification-enabling-greater-access-patients

Orlow, U. (2019). LEARNING FROM ARTEMISIA. Uriel Orlow. https://urielorlow.net/work/learning-from-artemisia/

Schwarz, Thomas, 2021, Der Coartem-Deal: Einem geschenkten Gaul....Medicus Mundi Schweiz. https://www.medicusmundi.ch/de/advocacy/publikationen/med-in-switzerland/einem-geschenkten-gaul

Photo: https://mybigpharmacy.com/product/coartem-80-480/

https://www.medicusmundi.ch/de/advocacy/publikationen/med-in-switzerland/einem-geschenkten-gaul