As the World Trade Organisation again meets to debate South Africa and India’s proposed Waiver on intellectual property for COVID-19 medical technologies this week, Fix the Patent Laws Campaign adds its voice in support of increased access to COVID-19 medical tools for the African continent.
Save lives now: support the Covid-19 TRIPS Waiver! South African Civil Society organisations call on countries blocking the proposal at the WTO to change their vote.
Fix the Patent Laws Coalition supports South Africa and India’s proposal to facilitate access to COVID-19 vaccines 15 October 2020, Johannesburg – The Fix the Patent Laws Coalition (FTPL), a group of over 40 organisations working to reform South Africa’s patent laws, welcomes the progressive proposal by South Africa and Continue Reading
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.