Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Med Anthropol. 2012;31(6):497-513. doi: 10.1080/01459740.2011.631958.
The production of Tibetan pharmaceuticals underwent a far-reaching transformation over the past decade. The introduction of good manufacturing practices (GMP) marked the beginning of rapid industrialization: new factories were built, and the companies re-oriented themselves to the requirements of the market. While officially regarded a great success, many doctors and pharmacists see GMP as fundamentally incompatible with traditional production methods and notions of quality. In this article, I address this incompatibility and examine where and how it affects the actual practice of producing medicines. While the problem exists, I argue that it does not stem from conflicting epistemologies but rather from the side effects of a quick and forced implementation, which often contradicts the spirit and letter of the regulations themselves. The case sheds new light on the way in which ideas about quality and safety, forged in the global arena, are locally recontextualized.
过去十年，藏药生产发生了深远的变革。引入良好生产规范（GMP）标志着快速工业化的开始：新工厂建成，公司重新面向市场需求。虽然官方认为这是一个巨大的成功，但许多医生和药剂师认为 GMP 从根本上与传统生产方法和质量观念不兼容。在本文中，我将探讨这种不兼容性，并研究它在何处以及如何影响实际的药品生产。虽然存在这个问题，但我认为它不是源于相互冲突的认识论，而是源于快速和强制实施的副作用，这常常与法规本身的精神和文字相矛盾。这个案例为我们提供了一个新的视角，让我们了解到在全球范围内形成的关于质量和安全的观念是如何在当地重新语境化的。
