India is the world's largest supplier of generic drugs, and its fast-growing US$42 billion pharmaceutical industry plays a significant role in providing affordable healthcare to millions of people worldwide.

As we discussed in an earlier article, governments are responding to the largest avian flu epidemic in recent years by considering a reversal of the ban on vaccinating poultry against the virus. Now there is growing concern about the potential for avian influenza to cause a serious outbreak among humans, and while the risk of infection is still relatively low, experts agree that the potential consequences of an outbreak are significant.