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Globalisation of Drug and Food Industries

Explore the economic determinants of health disparities as a result of behaviours

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  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    8 hours

Are the global drug and food industries beneficial for global health?

This short course explores economic factors of health disparities; focusing on behavioural issues of the pharmaceutical industry and companies. The short course looks at how medical drugs are differentially marketed in international context, and challenges facing national governments in regulating the industry to benefit consumers. Again, comparative case-studies are used to enhance student learning by illuminating corporate practices that perpetuate inequalities.

What topics will you cover?

  • Globalisation & globalised food and drug products linkages
  • Structure and scope of food and pharmaceutical industries
  • Medical and medicinal drugs
  • Generic medical drugs and equity in improving people’s health
  • Rationale of drug and medical patents
  • How patents influence practices in selling drugs and medical products
  • Why patented drugs cost more
  • Cash-cow medical drugs and their impact on global health equity
  • Power of food & drug industries
  • Regulating the industries and associated challenges

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Describe the global context of pharmaceutical companies
  • Trace the changing and globalised structure of the industry
  • Identify the power bases of pharmaceutical industry
  • Analyse the mechanisms & challenges met in regulating drug products and their pricing
  • Critically analyse case-studies to understand how actions by drug companies may affect global health outcomes

Who is the course for?

The course is designed for people with or without health sector background but wishing to seek career opportunities or progression in the hierarchy of global health as program managers, researchers, consultants, policy analysts, investors, executives, or service providers.

Please note that the individuals detailed in the ‘Who will you learn with?’ section below, are current staff members and may be subject to change.

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992
  • Location

    Coventry

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control

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