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OMPETING FOR THE CURE
1. Read and translate the text.
When little Sasha had a cold
his mother would light a taper
and place it in a small empty jar
which she then turned upside
down and pressed against each of
Sasha's vertebrae in turn, using
the suction created by the warm
air cooling to create small round
bruises the length of his spine.
Thirty years later, grownup Sasha prefers to give Soviet-style ac-
upuncture cures a miss. Now, when he has the sniffles he takes
Coldrex, a branded drug produced by pharmaceutical giant Glax-
oSmithKhne containing paracetamol, phenylephrine and guai-
phenesin.
Sasha's behavior is becoming more of the norm in a society that is
consuming ever larger quantities of pharmaceutical products. Last
year, total per capita spending on medicines in Russia rose to $82.3
(2,021 rubles), twice the amount consumers spent in 2004. The overall
value of the market that year was estimated at $11.7 billion, represent-
ing 20 percent year-on-year growth in dollar terms, according to data
from Business Monitor International.
The bulk of these buyers are consumers, followed by government
authorities, hospitals and polyclinics. In the first six months of this
year state orders increased by 43 percent to $2.51 billion, thanks to a
nationwide program by the federal government to provide low-cost
medicine to those most in need.
Over the same period the commercial segment grew by 30 percent
to $4.55 billion. Consumer pharmaceutical sales have been spurred on
by a combination of rising disposable income levels, increasing
awareness of products and the low health levels of a population that,
generally speaking, smokes heavily, eats poorly and continues to age.
According to Euromonitor a growing number of consumers are
buying a wider variety of over the counter pharmaceuticals and are