Saturday 22 August

Access to medicines

TAC intervention leads to important legal advance: public interest concerns are relevant in determining interim interdict in patent cases

On 26 July 2012, the Supreme Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in the matter between the Aventis group of pharmaceutical companies and Cipla’s group of generic pharmaceutical companies.

This is the first judgment to decisively say that public interest considerations must be taken into account when balancing the interests of the patentee and the infringer in determining whether or not to grant an interim interdict. The judgment is an important advance in the law that is in line with the values of the Constitution.

By Section27, ago

The United States Supreme Court upholds the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

SECTION27 applauds yesterday’s decision by the United States Supreme Court to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Act is President Barack Obama’s comprehensive health care reform legislation. It has the potential to enable the United States to achieve a goal that all countries, including South Africa, should strive toward: universal health care that is both high quality and affordable. In other words, quality health care for everyone.

The question for South Africans becomes: what lessons should South Africa take from this?

Read the entire statement by clicking “read more” below

By Section27, ago

1,000 HIV activists take to JHB streets for US$2 billion needed to save millions of lives

US, UK & Australia have to maintain Global Fund support to avert crisis

JOHANNESBURG, 22 March – Today over 1,000 southern African activists from a coalition of organisations take to the streets of Johannesburg in a march to demand key international donors lead an urgent response to plug a US$2 billion treatment funding gap, so that countries across Africa can scale up their HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria programmes and avert countless unnecessary deaths.

NOTE EDITORS
– New science presented in 2011 (HPTN 052 study) shows that ART not only save lives, but also prevents new HIV infections. Putting people on treatment earlier therefore reduces their chances of infecting others by up to 96%. This heads off not only the spread of the HIV epidemic, but also a looming resurgence in TB and drug-resistant TB.
– Up to 70% of TB patients in southern Africa are also infected with HIV.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS CONTACT:
Kate Ribet, Communications Officer, MSF SA
kate.ribet@joburg.msf.org | +27 79 872 2950 | www.msf.org.za

Borrie la Grange, Head of Communications, MSF SA
borrie.lagrange@joburg.msf.org | +27 83 287 5294 | www.msf.org.za

By Section27, ago

High Court rules in favour of the Medicines Control Council


On 15 November 2011 the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled in favour of the Medicines Control Council (MCC) and others in a matter concerning Adcock Ingram’s resistance to the MCC’s decision to cancel the registration of drugs containing dextropropoxyphene (DPP). The MCC made the decision in April 2011 after coming to the conclusion that the drugs pose a danger to the public. Previously the state attorney, purporting to act on behalf of the MCC and others, entered into a settlement with Adcock Ingram that allowed the company to continue selling the drugs. This settlement was made an order of court. On 15 November 2011 the court set aside the settlement.

The case is important because it has resulted in the removal of products from the market that the MCC and other stringent drug regulatory authorities have deemed unsafe. Importantly, it reaffirms the MCC’s statutory and constitutional duties to protect public health by ensuring that medicines are safe and basing its decisions on the available evidence. The judgment rightly places the health and safety of the public over profits of the pharmaceutical company. company.

By Section27, ago

TAC and SECTION27 urge Parliament not to ratify WTO decision on Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health

Cabinet recently resolved to ask Parliament to take the necessary steps to enable South Africa to ratify a decision taken by the World Trade Organization (WTO) on intellectual property and access to medicines. At its meeting held on 16 March 2011, Cabinet decided to request Parliament to –

– ratify the WTO decision on the implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health; and
– deposit “an instrument of ratification … with the WTO.”

As organisations that are committed to ensuring universal access to essential medicines, as an integral part of the constitutional right to have access to health care services, TAC and SECTION27 call on Parliament not to ratify the decision. In this press statement we explain why we make this call.

By Section27, ago

SECTION27 to host regional activist dialogue on Right to Health

SECTION27 to host groundbreaking Southern African Regional Activist Dialogue on Strengthening Campaigns for the Right to Health and why we need a UN Framework Convention on the Right to Health.

This year a million people will die of HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa. Hundreds of thousands more will die of easily preventable diseases. Infant and maternal mortality remains intolerably high across the region. This situation demands an enhanced and urgent response to health, yet health systems are under enormous strain, many governments are lukewarm in their response to health and international donor assistance is flagging or going into reverse, particularly the commitment to fund universal access to HIV treatment.

By Section27, ago

Submission on the proposed methodology for international benchmarking of medicine prices

The proposed Methodology for International Benchmarking of Prices of Medicines and Scheduled Substances in South Africa seeks to introduce an addition to the state’s regulatory tools used to ensure that medicines are appropriately priced in South Africa. As a public interest law centre that seeks to influence, develop and use the law to protect, promote and advance human rights, SECTION27 welcomes the publication of the proposed methodology and this opportunity to make further submissions to the Department of Health (DoH).

By Section27, ago
WDA