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By John S. James
AIDS Treatment News
On January 19 the Treatment Action Campaign, the leading AIDS activist organization in South Africa, called for global day of mobilization and protests on March 5, to bring attention to the lawsuit and the issues behind it. For more information, and initial U.S. contacts for activists, see below. South African Law at Issue The companies' major objection is a short part of the law, Section 15C, which we quote in full: The minister may prescribe conditions for the supply of more affordable medicines in certain circumstances so as to protect the health of the public, and in particular may- (a) notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Patents Act, 1978 (Act No. 57 of 1978), determine that the rights with regard to any medicine under a patent granted in the Republic shall not extend to acts in respect of such medicine which has been put onto the market by the owner of the medicine, or with his or her consent; (b) prescribe the conditions on which any medicine which is identical in composition, meets the same quality standard and is intended to have the same proprietary name as that of another medicine already registered in the Republic, but which is imported by a person other than the person who is the holder of the registration certificate of the medicine already registered and which originates from any site of manufacture of the original manufacturer as approved by the council in the prescribed manner, may be imported: (c) prescribe the registration procedure for, as well as the use of, the medicine referred to in paragraph (b). [Apparently paragraph (b) refers primarily to parallel importing of medicines made by the patent holder and sold by the patent holder at discount elsewhere in the world. A major problem in drug pricing is that large countries and insurance plans can negotiate discounts, while smaller countries and individuals often pay much more.] Comment The pharmaceutical companies object that Section 15C does not protect their medicine patent rights. The whole continent of Africa accounts for less than 1.5% of the global market in pharmaceuticals, and the companies have made little effort to market their expensive medications there. Most observers believe that these companies are less worried about loss of income from Africa than about the creation of precedents which might hurt them elsewhere -- especially in the United States, where huge amounts of drugs are sold at some of the worlds' highest prices, as the government does not require or negotiate pharmaceutical prices for its citizens, as governments of other industrialized countries do. Last year 2.4 million people died of HIV infection in Africa; fewer than one in a thousand Africans infected with HIV get modern treatment.
TAC Call for Global Day of Action against Drug Company Profiteering: Mobilize Globally and Locally against Drug Company Power! Produce Generic Antiretrovirals! Increase Health and Welfare Spending! 2001 promises to be one of the most critical years for access to HIV/AIDS treatments. In South Africa, the year will witness attempts by multinational drug companies to take the South African government to court for trying to make medicines affordable for all people. TAC will continue its Christopher Moraka Defiance Campaign against Unjust Trade Laws and Patent Abuse. TAC will demand that the government increase its health-care and welfare budgets substantially to deal effectively with HIV/AIDS... Mobilize Local and Global Action against Drug Companies The drug companies - GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck, Abbott and many others will try to stop the South African government's attempt to make medicines affordable to all its people. The law passed by the country's first democratic Parliament under the leadership of former President Mandela is now under attack. TAC calls on all people to oppose the drug companies and to support the legislation... Global Action March 5 -March 12, 2001 TAC calls on people in every country to mobilize against drug company profiteering on Monday 5 March 2001. On this day, the action by more than 40 multi national drug companies against the South African government will be heard in the Pretoria High Court. Millions of people will die from HIV/AIDS and other illnesses, if the drug companies succeed in their action. TAC specifically calls on our allies Medecins Sans Frontièrs, Health Gap Coalition, ACTSA and all the organizations who endorsed to Global March for HIV/AIDS Treatment Access to mobilize. A victory for the drug companies in this case will set back the struggle for access to essential medicines in all countries. TAC will mobilize actions against drug companies throughout the week 5-12 March 2001... Email: info@tac.org.za Website: www.tac.org.za U.S. Contacts for March 5 Mobilization (as of January 28) East Coast: ACT UP Philadelphia, 215-731-1844, katie@critpath.org West Coast: John Iversen, ACT UP East Bay, 510-568-1680, johnnyi@surfree.com For More Information Check the following Web sites for information on this lawsuit, and on the issues behind it: www.tac.org.za www.globaltreatmentaccess.org www.healthgap.org The pharmaceutical industry's case for opposing Section 15C is stated in Submission of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhARMA) for the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, 2001 (November 27,2000) section on South Africa (pages 150-152); it is currently available at: www.phrma.org/intnatl/news/2000-11-27.23.pdf AIDS Treatment News Published twice monthly Subscription and Editorial Office: 1233 Locust St., 5th floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 800/TREAT-1-2 toll-free email: aidsnews@critpath.org useful links: www.aidsnews.org Editor and Publisher: John S. James Associate Editor: Tadd T. Tobias Statement of Purpose: AIDS Treatment News reports on experimental and standard treatments, especially those available now. We interview physicians, scientists, other health professionals, and persons with AIDS or HIV; we also collect information from meetings and conferences, medical journals, and computer databases. Long-term survivors have usually tried many different treatments, and found combinations that work for them. AIDS Treatment News does not recommend particular therapies, but seeks to increase the options available. AIDS Treatment News is published 24 times per year, on the first and third Friday of every month, and print copies are sent by first class mail. Email is available (see below). Back issues are available at www.aidsnews.org To subscribe, you can call 800-TREAT-1-2 or 415-255-0588: Early email: Business, nonprofit and full-rate individual subscribers can receive an early copy by email, before the issue is printed--in addition to their regular copy, at no extra charge. It's OK to direct the email copy to someone else. Call our office to add email to your subscription. Free email: Free delivery for individuals (delayed one week). To subscribe, send a blank email to: aidsnews-subscribe@egroups.com ISSN # 1052-4207 Copyright 2001 by John S. James. |
The South African government has tried to save millions of African lives by making AIDS drugs affordable, however drug companies are still attempting to stop that initiative 
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