This 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 MOREHealth activists hand-over comments on Draft Policy to Dept. of Trade & Industry, supporting patent law reform PRETORIA, 17 October – Marching in support of government-proposed patent law reforms, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), and SECTION27 today handed their submission commenting on the Draft National Policy on Intellectual Property, 2013 to […]
READ MOREOver 130 organisations and experts globally have called on the South African Department of Trade and Industry to Fix the Patent Law in an open letter delivered this morning. You can find a PDF of the open letter here. The Fix the Patent Law campaign thanks all signatories for their support for improving access to […]
READ MOREToday the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and SECTION27 handed in a submission to the Department of Trade and Industry in Pretoria, in response to the draft National Policy on Intellectual Property, 2013. Having worked for many years to limit the negative impact of intellectual property (IP) on public health, most recently […]
READ MOREAs the public consultation on the Department of Trade and Industry’s Draft National Policy on Intellectual Property moves into its final few days there has been a wave of support from organisations, academics and experts across the globe. As it stands over 50 international organisations, […]
READ MOREOn September 4, 2013, the South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) published the Draft National Policy on Intellectual Property, 2013, for public comment. This draft policy is an important first step toward reforming the country’s patent laws to better ensure access to affordable medicines. Amendments to intellectual property systems may occur at a […]
READ MOREAs the Fix the Patent Laws campaign gains traction and South Africa moves closer towards the kind of intellectual property reform that will vastly improve access to affordable medicines, a number of claims are being publicised by the pharmaceutical industry and their allies seeking to protect their business interests. The purpose of this myth-buster is […]
READ MORESouth African delegation to Brazil get vital opportunity to learn from counterparts as South Africa patent reform process gathers pace October 9th 2013: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) congratulate the Brazilian government on taking bold steps to […]
READ MOREThe two public consultations on the Draft National Policy on Intellectual Property, 2013, run by the TAC, MSF and SECTION27 in Cape Town and Johannesburg on September 27th, led to the following general conclusions: –Participants were happy about the direction of the policy and felt reforms could bring down prices, but wanted further details on how it will be implemented and what the […]
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