"Pharmaceutical industry is very powerful..."

... and exercise a very strong pressure on the medical profession. The scientific research became useful only to some few.

BUDAPEST, National Trade Union Conference Center.

by

Massimo Greco, Anita Fonyodi, Daria Patrizia Greco

We have got to know the presence at Budapest of Maurice Wilkins, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962, together with some friends at a meeting in the Hungarian capital on a meeting at the National Trade Union Conference Center.

We decide to go to the congress. The atmosphere was quite interesting apart from well known italians there were a lot of other foreigners from Poland, France, West Germany, Romania and Jugoslavia.

Wilkins arrived some short time later, before we searched for him but it was in vain, he was sitted at the head of the conference and we decided to invite him for an interview after he finished his speech with applauses.

He was about seventy or less and very disponsible in accepting our invitation from Anita Fonyòdi and Daria Greco, who succeeded in bringing him for the interview.

Found a quite place, Wilkins recount to us about his life and his choice of anti prohibitionist in the case of drug abuse. Convinced on the fact that the problem is economic and that there are some great responsabilities that passes through the world of finance and enterprenuer at world level.

In respect of social problem, of actual information today, in the manner in which they talk about it, Wilkins said the situation can be resolved only with a great change of the society. Rather than spectacularing the phenomenon in the way of prohibition (television inquieries, religious morality, house-community business, debates and political sponsership), it would have been less harmful of not talking about it entirely.

Wilkins then repeated certain things he had made mentioned of during the congress: "There are some characteristics in Hungary or in others Socialist Countries which does not exist in the West. For example there are the mothers and their children. You have to ask the hungarian mothers the amount of help they receive from the State, that for example does not exist in the West.

We are interested in Scientific Research and would like to know much about certain problems going on in this research especially on Medical level.

QUESTION: We want to know if the Scientific research is very strongly conditioned by economic and commercial needs?

WILKINS: Yes, certainly.

QUESTION: Is that not a negative aspect of the research?

WILKINS: Often it is, for example in States, in the case of armaments.

QUESTION: Speaking of this research at the level of Medicine and Pharmacology is that too conditioned by commercial and industrial needs?

WILKINS: Yes is very much so, they have pharmaceutical industries, it is very powerful and has layed very strong pressure on the Medical profession.

QUESTION: Does that limit the quality or the results been achieved by the Scientific Research?

WILKINS: Yes, it does, and also you see the food industries, also influences the problem of health in the third world.

There are great industrial interestes.

QUESTION: Can it be possible to say that the Medical Research today is more at the service of certain interest rather than the health of man?

He means Scientific Research in general not medical, is this research more at the service of some special interest rather than the benefit of man?

WILKINS: Well there is much truth in what you say, but Scientific Research still has great potentiallity for the human benefit.

QUESTION: Why is it that this important theme has not been placed under international debate or international affairs?

WILKINS: Well I think it is very important that we have a dialogue between the ordinary people and politicians, the people who are not scientist with the direction in which science is going and how science should be used.

QUESTION: The last question is that, the average man is not an important man in this international debate and his interest is not really mentioned or taken care of?

WILKINS: Yes! That is true, the way things are now but we have to work to try to change the world.

QUESTION: Is there in the world an international body of pure scientist that are organized for the main scope of working for the benefit of humanity, rather than for the benefit of the industry or some special interest.

WILKINS: Yes, there are some organizations, for example there is the world Federation of Scientistic Workers International body. This organization is joined together only trade unions and professional organizations of scientist in different parts of the world.

QUESTION: Where is the seat of this organization?

WILKINS: There are central offices in London, but their organizations is specially active in Socialist countries.

QUESTION: We want to know in your own opinion whether it is right that the daunages caused from the big private industries, have to relapse on the pockets of citiziens?

WILKINS: Yes! Certainly, there is no any man who support the damages and the consequences caused. Even when the State intervene to unburden the damages, it is always the man at any cost who is to pay it.

QUESTION: Is that right in your opinion?

WILKINS: The pharmaceutical industries produce products that are beneficial to all human beings, he then added "in everything, there is a risk!"

Anita Fonyòdi. (La Chance Group of Budapest);

Massimo Greco and Daria Greco (La Chance-Corresponders-Italy).