May 26, 2014
This statement was originally published on the Knowledge Ecology International website by Thiru Balasubramaniam: On Friday, 23 May 2014, the World Health Assembly is currently discussing access to essential medicines in the context of resolution EB134.R16, tabled China in January 2014. The following statement was delivered by South Africa on behalf of the 47 members of […]
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March 12, 2014
FINALISE THE IP POLICY BEFORE ELECTIONS & GIVE US BETTER ACCCESS TO MEDICINES Activists demand rapid completion of intellectual property policy six years in the making; Without internationally recognised public health safeguards policy will be health disaster 2014/03/11, PRETORIA — Marching to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Doctors […]
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March 7, 2014
Lotti Rutter from the Treatment Action Campaign responds to PhRMA opinion piece in BDLive on 26th February 2014 This Wednesday’s opinion piece – “Strong IP regime could boost FDI” – might have promised a simple solution for increasing foreign direct investment, but unfortunately the reality is much more complicated. Rather than strong intellectual property (IP) […]
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February 13, 2014
“The Economic & Social Case for Patent Law Reform in South Africa” Lotti Rutter and Catherine Tomlinson This updated research paper from the Treatment Action Campaign seeks to respond with reasoned analysis to a number of inaccurate claims that have been made by the pharmaceutical industry, particularly following the PharmaGate scandal. The evidence highlights how […]
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January 28, 2014
A shortened version of this article was originally published in the Financial Mail of January 24-29. By Marcus Low, Treatment Action Campaign. We are deeply perturbed by revelations in last Friday’s Mail & Guardian exposing what appears to be a very well-funded, covert plot by foreign pharmaceutical companies and their local subsidiaries to delay a […]
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January 24, 2014
This statement was originally published on the Knowledge Ecology International website by Thiru Balasubramaniam: On Thursday, 23 January 2014, Malebona Precious Matsoso (Director General of the South African National Department of Health) delivered the the following intervention at the 134th session of the World Health Organization’s Executive Board under agenda item 9.7 on Access to essential […]
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January 22, 2014
Article originally published by the NSP Review here. By Lotti Rutter, Treatment Action Campaign Achieving the National Strategic Plan (NSP) objectives depends on the effective use of the national health budget. But is there sufficient emphasis on value for money in the health sector at a time when South Africa is struggling to meet its […]
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January 20, 2014
On 18th January, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) put out the following statement in response to the #PharmaGate scandal – pertaining to a leaked international pharmaceutical industry plot to derail national plans for patent law reform in South Africa: “The Congress of South African Trade Unions condemns with the contempt it deserves […]
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January 18, 2014
By Professor Brook K. Baker, Senior Policy Analyst, Health GAP PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America) is putting $350,000 on the table to stop proposed patent law reform in South Africa and instead to lobby for even more monopoly protections for medicines. Why would a pharmaceutical association from the US be so interested in an […]
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Today the Mail & Guardian published a story entitled – “Motsoaledi: Big pharma’s ‘satanic’ plot is genocide” regarding leaked documents revealing that the international pharmaceutical industry planned a $450,000 campaign against the proposed patent law reforms in South Africa. In reaction the Treatment Action Campaign’s General Secretary Vuyiseka Dubula made the following statement: “The Treatment Action Campaign […]
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