Event: Public seminar: Professor Jonathan Gabe - The Pharmaceuticalisation of Society: Recent Developments
Date: Tuesday 24 October 2023
Time: 17:00 - 19:00
Venue: Room 316, Campus Hub Block O (CHBO), Msida
A public seminar organised by the , .
This talk focuses on the recent development and current status of Pharmaceuticalisation – a key concept that examines the translation of human conditions, capabilities and capacities into opportunities for pharmaceutical intervention.
This complex socio-technical process centres on the activities of the global pharmaceutical industry. It also involves networks of related institutions, organisations, actors and artefacts, as well as the cognitive structures associated with the creation, production and use of new therapeutics. Six components of pharmaceuticalisation are discussed: namely ‘selling sickness’; changing forms of governance; mediation by the mass media; the role of patients and consumer groups; the use of drugs for non-medical purposes; and how expectations about pharmaceutical futures shape the present. In the remainder of the talk, three new issues are considered which illustrate the analytical value of Pharmaceuticalization: namely orphan drugs and genome sequencing; pharmaceuticals in pandemic times; and digital pharma futures.
Prof. Jonathan Gabe is an Emeritus Professor in Sociology at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. With expertise in Medical Sociology, he is particularly renowned for his contribution to the Sociology of Pharmaceuticals.
