Another reason why pharmaceutical companies did not start researching the disease earlier on was because the disease was unknown and it would be costly and time-consuming to start researching. Additionally, we knew nothing about the disease; treatments would mainly consist of trial and error. In other words, the two problems in not researching Ebola early on both led to one thing: money. More specifically, the pharmaceutical companies did not think that by researching the disease and trying to find a treatment or cure for it would give them a profit. And as a result, there would be no point in researching if they were not going to make money out of it. Is that the moral thing to do? Just because it would be costly and not lucrative, it does
…show more content…
It does not have to be. Cuba, although it does not have huge amounts of resources and it is categorized as a developing country, it has some of the most advanced biotechnology and continues to research it. Many might say that Cuba 's biotechnology is on par if not more advanced than U.S 's, as evident by the life expectancy: Cuba being 79.07 years and the US being 78.74 (Cuba GDP, Trading Economics). This is peculiar knowing that U.S, an advanced democratic country, has a life expectancy slightly lower than Cuba, a developing country. Usually, developing countries do not have enough resources and funding for research. However, Cuba spends 16% of its GNP just on universal healthcare and spends 68.2 Billion US Dollars on research and development of biotechnology (Health in Cuba, Cooper). The results of sufficient funding as well as 25 years of research led to Cuba 's success in discovering a vaccine for lung cancer (Cuba 's Had A Lung Cancer Vaccine For Years, And Now It 's Coming To The U.S, Schumaker). Many might say that lung cancer is a widespread illness that happens all other the world. Of course, it would be beneficial to research that because it would be profitable as a vaccine. However, the main goal of Cuba 's research on biotechnology is not for profit. The pharmaceutical companies would not be able to make money because of the universal healthcare …show more content…
Despite this almost obvious priority, the U.S spends more money on defense than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France, the United Kingdom, India, and Germany combined. Granted, since the tragedy of 9/11, many argue that the U.S needs to protect the wellbeing of its people and, therefore, funding should not be cut from defense. The U.S also spends $39 billion a year on its network of prison systems, meaning the U.S spends more on its prisoners than any other country on Earth, including China and Russia. In other words, the health of the public is treated as a lower priority in congress than the prison
It does not have to be. Cuba, although it does not have huge amounts of resources and it is categorized as a developing country, it has some of the most advanced biotechnology and continues to research it. Many might say that Cuba 's biotechnology is on par if not more advanced than U.S 's, as evident by the life expectancy: Cuba being 79.07 years and the US being 78.74 (Cuba GDP, Trading Economics). This is peculiar knowing that U.S, an advanced democratic country, has a life expectancy slightly lower than Cuba, a developing country. Usually, developing countries do not have enough resources and funding for research. However, Cuba spends 16% of its GNP just on universal healthcare and spends 68.2 Billion US Dollars on research and development of biotechnology (Health in Cuba, Cooper). The results of sufficient funding as well as 25 years of research led to Cuba 's success in discovering a vaccine for lung cancer (Cuba 's Had A Lung Cancer Vaccine For Years, And Now It 's Coming To The U.S, Schumaker). Many might say that lung cancer is a widespread illness that happens all other the world. Of course, it would be beneficial to research that because it would be profitable as a vaccine. However, the main goal of Cuba 's research on biotechnology is not for profit. The pharmaceutical companies would not be able to make money because of the universal healthcare …show more content…
Despite this almost obvious priority, the U.S spends more money on defense than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France, the United Kingdom, India, and Germany combined. Granted, since the tragedy of 9/11, many argue that the U.S needs to protect the wellbeing of its people and, therefore, funding should not be cut from defense. The U.S also spends $39 billion a year on its network of prison systems, meaning the U.S spends more on its prisoners than any other country on Earth, including China and Russia. In other words, the health of the public is treated as a lower priority in congress than the prison