Doxy doesn't work in India !??!?!?!?

cyberhippie

I'm not a doctor so I leave the personal decisions up to you. I look it like this, I don't think the various health bodies I mentioned above, including the WHO are looking to put people deliberately into danger so I would say the C+P option is perfectly OK

dessy

Thanks for that. I think you are right and thats what I was thinking, but then you never know. I have only 3 weeks left until I go and I think I am beginning to panic over everything......too much time for thinking!
Thanks cyber

thaneb

I went to what is apparently the best travel clinic in my home city - and the doctor seemed really well informed - and he prescribed Doxy. This was a couple of months ago. Aother doctor also recommended the same stuff. But like someone else said, we're not doctors. I have one friend who drinks a lot of Gin and Tonics instead of Malaria pills. Apparently that's what the British used to do. I am going to stick with the pills though, and besides, finding Gin would be a problem here in Gujarat.

bruniskina

LOL - Take two times daily, with food.

I'm wondering about the long-term solution is against malaria. What do all the expats do? I am moving to India for a year, and the idea of relying on pharmaceuticals for a whole year doesn't really appeal to me... I guess it is really about seriously avoiding the mozzies at that point?

Jacob Ruiz

I used Doxy while in India and several days into my trip my bag, containing my Doxy, was stolen. Replacing it was easy as there are over-the-counter medical stalls everywhere but the real shocker was the price. In the US I paid 45 USD for 40 pills and in India I paid approx. 1 USD for the same amount! How's that for a statement on the greed of American drug companies? Same pill, same strength, Indian generic vs. American generic. If you use Doxy it's recommended that you also take an Acidopholous pill daily (or eat a bowl of kurd daily) to replace the good bacteria that the doxy is destroying (it's an antibiotic, after all). As for Malarone it's extremely expensive and I've been told it's not available in India although we had no need to replace it (my wife used it). In over 3 weeks in Rajasthan I never saw a mosquito so if that's your destination you may not even need it. In Rishikesh and Varanasi we saw (and felt) a few so I suppose the Doxy is cheap insurance.

Nick-H

I hate to find myself defending the multiantional drug companies but...

The Indian companies do not have to pay the research, development and testing costs.

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Jacob Ruiz

I guess we could get into a philosophical discussion on the ethics (or lack of) of drug companies in the US but I have a difficult time being civil in my thoughts about them. If drugs are 40 times cheaper in India than in the US then it's more than just research and development. I'm a middle aged man and my awareness of the costs of drugs has increased dramatically as I get closer and closer to needing them and...it's frightening. People in dire need with limited $$$ are having to make serious decisions around this issue. And it's not just drugs. Surgical procedures and dental work are exorbitant in the US and countries like India are finding an entire new industry in catering to westerners who can't afford the high price. Need a heart by-pass? $100,000+ in the US and $15000 in India with top medical care. One I can possibly afford if, God forbid, I need it and the other I simply can't. Why such disparity? Americans are getting their drugs cheaper in Canada right now but what we really need to do is import from India, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil etc. American pharmaceutical companies will move heaven and earth to prevent this by telling you the quality of their drugs is suspect and lobbying Congress to prevent it but it's all a charade, in my opinion, to preserve their exorbitant profits at the expense of people's health. If Indian drugs work for Indians why not for me, too?

Nick-H

Well, the drugs would not exist if the multinationals didn't develop them, but I'm shedding no tears for those companies. I'm sure they would like to eradicate the Indian manufacturers to further increase their profits but...

The long term view is less optimistic for us folk at the pharmacy counter, as India has been forced to take on board international patent laws, so I guess those prices will be rising.

Currently a course of antibiotics here costs me less than half the UK 'NHS' prescription charge!

dessy

This interesting topic seems to be moving the direction of the thread, but what the hell.....

I totally agree with Jacob that western medicine prices are way too inflated. Yes, I am sure we are paying for the research medical companies do, but I am sure in the price of it also go all the wages of the numerous busy bodies doing nothing in these big companies. and all the paper they push humming and arring which substances to keep out because of all these rules and regulations and laws they have to adhere to.........etc. That is the part that I mind and makes me angry.

Being Bulgarian, I stock up on eastern european medicine everytime I go back. Prices also are much cheaper, same as medical treatments. A bit like India really. Westerners have also been taking advantage of the price difference of drugs and treatments, which is great and sad at the same time. But with time, Eastern Europe is becoming more like western europe, so we better all eat healthy and hope we never get sick....as it wont be fun then.

cyberhippie

One of the dictates of the recent seat at the WTO table is a promise by India to look at stopping the manufacture of generic drugs!!
Which will have a huge impact on India's ability to make cheap drugs for both itself and Africa, with possible effects for AIDS patients among others!!
There's the proof of the caring west!!

Interestingly the call for an all out, worldwide ban on generic dugs was defeated a couple a years back, and the headlines read that the west backed away from this and consequently helped save lives!!
The truth was American/European companies also make generic copies of European/American drugs and this was the reason the total ban was never put in place!! As it would have harmed the trade of American/European companies!!

The upshot of this, is the little unheralded deals like the one with India who were basically blackmailed into the decision, as it was a condition to getting into the WTO
Greed greed and more greed!!

Here's a link WTO

Nick-H

Oh dear, Cyberhippie --- very depressing

I've always thought that governments should pay for research, this being funded by taxpayers ---but that is not the sort of idea that goes down well these days, seemingly in any quarter or political persuasion.

famous

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/...0s1/index.html

Here's the Canadian government's excellent document about malaria and medications. It's pro mefloquine. It also points out that there is no global concensus regarding meds. They have a good argument that 95% of users experience no side effects. For those who do, in almost all cases the side effects can be reversed by stopping the drug or switching to another drug. Death by malaria is not reversable. They also make a good point that for many, malaria can get really bad really fast. I took mefloquine for a year and had no side effects. they say that there are no additional side effects for very long term use other than the same ones that are for short term use. I read on the WHO site that doxy was banned in France due to side effects damaging the throat. From my reading it seemed more toxic than mefloquine.

[from WHO Site]
[PDF] PHARMACEUTICALS: RESTRICTIONS IN USE AND AVAILABILITY
... France February 2001 The gel form of doxycycline preparations remain suspended in
France due to frequent associations of adverse effects on the oesophagus (Reference:
Communication to WHO, 5 October 2001). Product Name: Droperidol CAS number ...

http://search.who.int/search?ie=utf8...=0&btnG=Submit

famous

sorry the WHO link didn't post correcctly. just go to:

http://www.who.int/en/

and search "doxycycline france" on the main page and you'll find the report near the top of the search results.

dessy

This is probably a silly question, but have to ask, if I start taking the Chloroquine plus proguanil combo and run out whilst in India (as may have to stay longer than planned for work) can I just buy a similar or any other anti malaria tablets and start taking them as a continuation. Does that work? Has anyone done it?

freenote

The chloroquine part you can buy in any medical store ,cheap . The Proguanil part we could not find anywhere .So we adjusted . The Mozzies wer'nt attracted to us ,so we bought the choroquine whitch we believed gave some protection ,and made efforts to not get bit i.e long sleeves and a stiff paper to swat them with ,and the important bit ,stop worrying !!!!!!!