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 […]
READ MOREThis 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 […]
READ MOREArticle 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 […]
READ MOREOn 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 […]
READ MOREBy 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 […]
READ MOREToday 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 […]
READ MORE6 November 2013 Yesterday the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) released a statement by Minister Rob Davies announcing an upcoming conference to discuss issues that emerged in response to the DTI’s call for submission’s on the Draft National Policy on Intellectual Property (IP). TAC, SECTION27 and MSF’s joint submission on the draft policy can […]
READ MOREOn 17th October, the Working Group on Intellectual Property of the Brazilian Network for the Integration of Peoples (GTPI/REBRIP, acronym in Portuguese), coordinated by the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA, acronym in Portuguese), made a submission of recommendations to the South African Department of Trade and Industry on the Draft National Policy on IP. The […]
READ MOREThis speech was made by former XDR-TB patient Phumeza Tisile, from Khayelitsha, on October 17 in Pretoria at both a press conference and a rally organised by the Fix the Patent Laws campaign. “My experience with TB was rather a very long journey. Firstly, I was late diagnosed. Secondly, I was given the wrong medication for […]
READ MOREBy Marcus Low, Treatment Action Campaign Thousands of people in South Africa have drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). Many of them will die slow, horrible deaths. Many of those who live will struggle with severe side effects during the up to two years of daily pills and injections. Some, like 23-year old Phumeza who spoke at our […]
READ MORE