TEDxCanberra - Thomas Pogge - Reimagining pharmaceutical innovation

[magdalazin]

Lovely, innovators are the future!

[dieneddie]

THIS IS GENIUS!!!!.... what is there to stop this method being implemented immediately ?

This must be the future and although im not a fan of pharmaceutical drugs and believe in good old rest, real food and nature time to fix problems... i realise the huge benefit of this new inspired method.

[smacheck]

@aganon77 Yes, low developed areas do need more condoms, however, did you consider the fact that it's also the poverty, illness, education, culture, and their bad situation in general that influences breeding rate? This is a mechanism of many living organism on Earth - if survival rate drops, the number of offspring grows.

[spamandeggs99]

Thomas Pogge is a professor of philosophy. How does he know so much about the pharmaceutical industry? I can guarantee he spent 0 minutes talking to anybody who actually works in the industry, half the shit he says is so unbelievably off the mark it rivals Paris Hilton level thought.

Those of you that want to drink his Kool-Aid, be my guest. You can't be convinced. Those of you with genuine curiosity, I encourage you to research how/why pharma $ are spent the way that they are.

[theegilsK]

@spamandeggs99 Pogge is almost always like this. I want to agree with him but I am always left disappointed because he can never manage to write anything really cogent. He does practical philosophy with zero practical application.

[catch22af]

As much as I want to see people living longer, I can't stop but think that there's over 7 billion people in the world, do we need people to be living longer. Just an honest question.

[MastermindX]

@catch22af You wouldn't be asking that question if it was you who was sick with an easily treatable condition, but you had to die because you couldn't afford the medicine.

[tracychess]

I was greatly saddened by this presentation. Thomas Pogge consistently uses the word 'health' as if it were 'not sick'. Health is independent of illness and can be measured and improved independent of illness and independent of drugs. Most of the people in the world are not dying from 'illness that should be cured by drug', they are dying from illnesses that should be cured by healthiness. Fixing the drug systems will not improve health. We need a health paradigm, not an illness paradigm.

[LeShoost]

@tracychess While I agree, to a certain extent, with the idea that the first world indeed needs to think of health in this way, the third world is far too hindered by terrible living conditions, sanitation issues, food and water access, mis-education on diseases and their transfer, war, genocide, corruption, slavery, etc. etc. and so on and so forth. No issue this big has a bandaid quick-fix, and unfortunately life-threatening disease is still the primary concern of most of the world.

[Hellsconsort]

I enjoyed listening to him speak. I would raise the point though that another hugely effective way to drastically lower disease and illness is to pressure religious institutions into allowing members to use (and furthermore promote) condoms and other forms of protection. This would also to no small degree combat poverty.

[kezzy234]

@Hellsconsort How would condoms combat poverty? Poorer families try and have more children in order to better support themselves as a family

[Hellsconsort]

@kezzy234 Some do. Many are also unwanted but made because of religious beliefs on contraception. Those greater size families also mean more feeding, medicine, financial investment, emotional care.

[aganon77]

@kezzy234 They try but it doesn't work that way. Trust me, I live in a poor country and I see poor people in my hospital every week. They need condoms.

[MunaEndel]

Every time there is a video about innovation or environmental problems someone suggests a resource based economy.

Sorry, but it seems like a stupid idea, you have no evidence that it would work, there are some ~10min vids about it that dont explain anything and may get a few teenagers excited. You need a bit more to reasonably propose another system for world economy.

As for this, a few pieces of legislation can make it happen, granted that people will push for it and oppose corporate lobbying

[GoldwireIT]

@MunaEndel If a RBE isn't put to test how would one know if it would work or not? Have you actually studied the details of it beyond watching 10 minute videos?

[MunaEndel]

@GoldwireIT That is its main problem, people wont switch onto something, that 'might' work, on a dare. Can you provide some links to discussions/details that arent from Zeitgeist movies, youtube vids or the RBE website, cause those are way too simplistic.

Dont get me wrong here, it can be a great idea but atm it seems like "lets live in peace and harmony" - a nice thought but you should show how it would work in the real world with all its complexity and how to get there.

[sweYoda2]

Nothing will change within the monetary system. I think guys like these are great, but they are naive to think that things will actually change. His hearth is in the right place, but his logic is flawed. Rich owners of companies don't care. Resource based economy is the way to go!

[GoldwireIT]

@sweYoda2 I was thinking the exact same thing as soon as I started to watch this. People like him will always get drowned out. Even the idea of a RBE will get drowned out because not enough people will ever know about it and fully understand it and advocate for it. The only solution I have worked out is that things will change the same way they have always changed...Just a slow and steady progression so eventually technology will free us. Watch the documentary Transcendent Man.

[sweYoda2]

@GoldwireIT The future is not set, techology might lead to massive famine and/or enslavement. Hopefully mankind is past bullshit like that and we will become free.

[MastermindX]

@sweYoda2 That's why the system he designed would benefit private pharmaceutical companies as much as benefit everyone else, weren't you paying attention?

[sweYoda2]

@MastermindX What? I am pro resource based economy.

[MastermindX]

@sweYoda2 So you only came here to preach? That's sad, you'd benefit much more from TED if you had your mind open to different ideas that you had not considered before.

[sweYoda2]

@MastermindX WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!!