DON’T TRADE AWAY OUR HEALTH – PHARMA ATTEMPTS TO UNDERMINE SOUTH AFRICAN PATENT LAW REFORM & ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE MEDICINES Johannesburg/New York, August 13, 2015: A submission to the United States Government shows South Africa is facing pressure from the pharmaceutical industry to backtrack on intellectual property (IP) law reform that Continue Reading
JOHANNESBURG, Tuesday 20th January: The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SECTION27 applaud India’s decision to reject a patent application on sofosbuvir, an important new treatment for Hepatitis C. Last Wednesday’s decision paves the way for increased access to more affordable sofosbuvir in India and other countries Continue Reading
SECTION27, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have released a statement welcoming the DTI’s call for public comments on the National Policy on Intellectual Property (IP). Please follow the link to read the full press statement. SECTION27, TAC, MSF response to DTI draft I.P. policy
In early December, the Mthatha medical depot – serving more than 300 medical facilities in the North-eastern region of the Eastern Cape for medical supply needs – faced severe supply and delivery disruptions of life-saving HIV and tuberculosis [TB] treatment for over 100,000 patients. Stripped of 70% of its workforce due to suspensions in a labour dispute, the faltering management of the depot collapsed and critically compounded existing stock shortages at the depot, hospitals and clinics in the area. Orders had not been processed, supplies not received and, ultimately, drugs not dispensed to patients most in need. As a result, the danger of treatment interruption for HIV and TB patients was a perilous reality.
After Section27 and the Rural Health Advocacy Project (RHAP) received pleas for help from distressed health care workers on the ground and with the consent of the responsible health authorities, MSF and TAC started a coordinated response. MSF hired a temporary workforce and cleared the backlog of drug orders by coordinating stock reception, order processing and deliveries to affected facilities. TAC set up and maintained a drug stock-out hotline and monitoring network to help prioritise essential drug delivery to clinics. The Department of Health complemented the MSF/TAC intervention by sending three experienced pharmacists to assist at the Mthatha depot. Read the full report here
After responding to a drug distribution crisis at Mthatha medical depot between 7 December and 24 January, the medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières /Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is handing all activities back to Eastern Cape health authorities. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) will mobilize 25 volunteers to assist in the handover
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), SECTION27 and Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) South Africa voice support for their partners across the world opposing provisions in a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) that threaten the sustainable supply of affordable medicines to millions of people in the developing world.
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders (MSF) and the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ’s) Faculty of Health Sciences have partnered to raise awareness and encourage discussion on public health-related issues through a series of high-level debates. In the second of this series, the panel addressed critical issues from challenges hampering the ability of the public health system to provide treatment, care and support, to legal frameworks and opportunities such as innovative financing mechanisms for global health.