July 24, 2013
This article was originally published by eNCA on 23rd July 2013 and can be accessed here. A further interview with MSF Access Campaign Advocacy Officer Julia Hill can also be found there. CAPE TOWN – The country’s patent laws are costing ill people dearly. South Africans are denied access to affordable medication because drug companies […]
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This is an open letter dated 23rd July from the Treatment Action Campaign sent to USTR Ambassador Michael Froman outlining our concerns with mounting US pressure aiming to restrict India’s generic medicines industry. You can find the original letter here. Dear Ambassador Froman, The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) of South Africa is extremely concerned […]
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July 6, 2013
This article was originally published by GroundUp on 3 July 2013. The original article can be accessed here By Marcus Low On 22 June a treaty for the blind was heading for disaster as negotiators stalled and refused to budge on hardline positions. Three days later a negotiator stepped out of a boardroom in the […]
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June 21, 2013
TAC’s Marcus Low is currently participating in the Marrakesh Diplomatic Conference to conclude a WIPO Treaty to facilitate access to published works by visually impaired persons and persons with print disabilities. The Diplomatic Conference is currently (17 – 28 June) taking place in Marrakesh, Morocco. See below Marcus’s opening statement made on 19 June. Marcus […]
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April 30, 2013
On 24 April 2013, Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies stated that South Africa’s new intellectual property (IP) policy would not be released for public comment any time soon. This starkly contrasts with a number of promises in the past two years, by both the Minister and officials in the Department of Trade and […]
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April 23, 2013
By Marcus Low This article was originally published on GroundUp on April 10 2013. The original article can be accessed here A treaty that has the potential to change the lives of millions of blind people is at risk of being hijacked by publishers who show no sympathy for the difficulties faced by blind people […]
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April 12, 2013
TAC joins global actions against the European Union’s on-going efforts to restrict access to affordable medicines. The EU and India are in the final stages of negotiations for an EU-India free trade agreement (FTA). EU is also currently negotiating FTAs with Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. The EU has repeatedly attempted to use these […]
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April 10, 2013
Professor Brook K. Baker, Senior Policy Analyst Health GAP April 2, 2013 Novartis, its fellow Big Pharma multinationals, Chambers of Commerce, and PhRMA have all roundly denounced India’s Supreme Court’s decision invalidating Novartis’ patent application for Glivec (Gleevec in the United States) and its affirmation of strict anti-evergreening standards of patentability and inventive step in […]
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April 5, 2013
The 2012/2013 South African Health Review was launched on 2 April 2013. The first chapter of the publication reviews ‘Health policy and legislation’ in the country. The chapter includes a useful analysis of the draft intellectual property policy for South Africa, as well as the ruling in the recent docetaxel case. The chapter, which has […]
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April 2, 2013
For the past 7 years, the Indian government has faced on-going court challenges and bullying by the pharmaceutical company Novartis. Novartis’s challenge has centred on provisions in the Indian Patents Act that exclude new uses and formulations of existing medicines from patentability. Specifically, Novartis challenged India’s rejection of its patent application for the cancer medicine […]
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Globally people are suffering and dying needlessly because governments are unable to afford to buy medicines to save their lives. It is time to Fix the Patent Laws to save our lives!
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SA drug patent laws cost lives
This article was originally published by eNCA on 23rd July 2013 and can be accessed here. A further interview with MSF Access Campaign Advocacy Officer Julia Hill can also be found there. CAPE TOWN – The country’s patent laws are costing ill people dearly. South Africans are denied access to affordable medication because drug companies […]
READ MORETAC open letter to USTR regarding concerns with US pressure to restrict India’s generic medicine industry
This is an open letter dated 23rd July from the Treatment Action Campaign sent to USTR Ambassador Michael Froman outlining our concerns with mounting US pressure aiming to restrict India’s generic medicines industry. You can find the original letter here. Dear Ambassador Froman, The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) of South Africa is extremely concerned […]
READ MOREDancing and tears greet book treaty for blind
This article was originally published by GroundUp on 3 July 2013. The original article can be accessed here By Marcus Low On 22 June a treaty for the blind was heading for disaster as negotiators stalled and refused to budge on hardline positions. Three days later a negotiator stepped out of a boardroom in the […]
READ MOREOpening statement by TAC’s Marcus Low at Marrakesh Diplomatic Conference
TAC’s Marcus Low is currently participating in the Marrakesh Diplomatic Conference to conclude a WIPO Treaty to facilitate access to published works by visually impaired persons and persons with print disabilities. The Diplomatic Conference is currently (17 – 28 June) taking place in Marrakesh, Morocco. See below Marcus’s opening statement made on 19 June. Marcus […]
READ MOREDTI reneges on IP policy commitments
On 24 April 2013, Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies stated that South Africa’s new intellectual property (IP) policy would not be released for public comment any time soon. This starkly contrasts with a number of promises in the past two years, by both the Minister and officials in the Department of Trade and […]
READ MOREEnding the book famine for the blind
By Marcus Low This article was originally published on GroundUp on April 10 2013. The original article can be accessed here A treaty that has the potential to change the lives of millions of blind people is at risk of being hijacked by publishers who show no sympathy for the difficulties faced by blind people […]
READ MORETAC tweets photo messages to @EU_Commission in protest of the EU’s efforts to block access to affordable medicine
TAC joins global actions against the European Union’s on-going efforts to restrict access to affordable medicines. The EU and India are in the final stages of negotiations for an EU-India free trade agreement (FTA). EU is also currently negotiating FTAs with Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. The EU has repeatedly attempted to use these […]
READ MOREDebunking Pharma’s Cant Against the Novartis Judgment: Myth and Fact
Professor Brook K. Baker, Senior Policy Analyst Health GAP April 2, 2013 Novartis, its fellow Big Pharma multinationals, Chambers of Commerce, and PhRMA have all roundly denounced India’s Supreme Court’s decision invalidating Novartis’ patent application for Glivec (Gleevec in the United States) and its affirmation of strict anti-evergreening standards of patentability and inventive step in […]
READ MOREThe 2012/2013 South African Health Review provides an analysis of the draft IP policy
The 2012/2013 South African Health Review was launched on 2 April 2013. The first chapter of the publication reviews ‘Health policy and legislation’ in the country. The chapter includes a useful analysis of the draft intellectual property policy for South Africa, as well as the ruling in the recent docetaxel case. The chapter, which has […]
READ MOREIndia’s Supreme Court upholds the right to medicine
For the past 7 years, the Indian government has faced on-going court challenges and bullying by the pharmaceutical company Novartis. Novartis’s challenge has centred on provisions in the Indian Patents Act that exclude new uses and formulations of existing medicines from patentability. Specifically, Novartis challenged India’s rejection of its patent application for the cancer medicine […]
READ MORE