Academic Resources: film database
Name of film: The Cost of Living
Topics: Global Health Disparities, Access to antiretrovirals
Brief Summary: Looks at the case of Pramote, an AIDS sufferer who lives in Bangkok and who, if he'd been able to afford the drugs now routinely prescribed in the West, would not be paralyzed and bedridden. Investigates why Thailand and South Africa applied to use compulsory licenses and parallel importing — practices agreed to under World Trade Organization guidelines — to make generic versions and antiretroviral drugs to halt AIDs epidemics in their countries, and asks why such antiretroviral drugs still aren't included in their essential drug lists. Directed by Toni Strasburg.
Date of Release: Copyright 2000
Length: 24 minutes
Where to get it: Bullfrog Films, or Penn State Audiovisual Catalogue, or Inter Library Loan