Impact on pharmaceutical drug prices and sales during economic turbulence

Abstract

The global recession which began in December 2007 (and lasted till February 2009) led to large scale labor displacement across the globe. Like many other countries, the Middle Eastern countries faced an economic downturn during this period – leading to job cuts. Historically, the Middle East is known to attract economic migrants and as a foreign diaspora - Keralites make up a major portion of the economic migrants in this region. In this study, it has been hypothesized that due to the job cuts in the Middle East during the ‘Great Recession’, many Keralites were compelled to return back to Kerala and that the circumstances led to a spike in depression related illnesses in the state of Kerala (India). This study has been conducted to assess the impact on drug sales and prices in Kerala because of the ‘Great Recession of 2007’