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VIDEO: Fight for cheaper drugs continues in Pta

The draft policy was released by the Dti in August.

October 27, 2017
Thato Mahlangu 3 minutes read
Activists taking part in the march.Photo: MSF

More than 1 000 people gathered in Pretoria and marched to the Department of Trade and Industry (Dti) in Sunnyside on Tuesday in support of the government’s effort to fix medicines patent laws.

The fix the patent laws coalition (FTPL), Doctors Without Borders SA (MSF) and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) marched in a bid to ensure patients had access to cheaper medicines.

The department has proposed changes to patent laws that give drug manufacturers a monopoly on medicines by preventing generic manufacturers from copying their formulas, a practice that has driven the cost of medicines down in many developing countries.

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The protesters argued that most people who needed drugs were unable to afford treatment, resulting in many preventable deaths.

MSF access campaign advocacy advisor Claire Waterhouse said reform had been ongoing since 2009.

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“We are encouraged that a final policy and actual changes to the law finally seem to be imminent. We marched to support the steps taken by the Dti to protect public health but also to remind the Dti that people’s lives depend on the rapid conclusion of this law reform process.”

 

She said until the relevant laws were amended, people would continue to suffer and die because they couldn’t access affordable medicines.

FTPL handed over its submission in support of the draft intellectual property policy, and a new price deferential report on the dire inaccessibility of cancer medicines due to patent barriers.

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The draft policy was released by the Dti in August.

“The draft policy paves the way for a new, progressive intellectual property regime in South Africa, 16 years after the signing of the Doha Declaration on Public Health – a critical international agreement confirming countries’ ability to amend their laws to incorporate public health safeguards,” said the group.

It said for the first time, the draft policy was clear on prioritising people’s constitutionally guaranteed right of access to healthcare services.

“We want the final policy to first and foremost engender the ethos of the constitution.”

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TAC chairperson Sibongile Tshabalala said: “We marched in solidarity with all people who cannot access the medicines they need to give themselves a chance at life or to ease their suffering. We have lost comrades and friends simply because they couldn’t access the medicines they needed due to high prices driven by unwarranted patent monopolies.”

The march comes almost a year after the tragic passing of prominent FTPL activist, Tobeka Daki – a mother of two fighting breast cancer.

Daki could not afford trastuzumab, which cost almost R500 000 a year. There is no generic for the Roche-manufactured drug because it is protected by patent.

 

A cancer medicines report released on Thursday highlights the patent problem.

The report indicates that 15 of the 24 highly-effective cancer drugs, were available as generics in India for less than half the price they were sold for in South Africa.

MSF cited an example of lenalidomide which would cost a South African R882 000 but was sold for less than R32 000 in India.

The protesters accused pharmaceutical companies of price-fixing and selling medicines at shocking prices.

“The report confirms earlier research showing that South Africa grants large numbers of secondary patents on medicines that are often rejected in other countries – a critical factor driving the vast price differences on the same medicines in South Africa and India,” said MSF.

“People suffering from HIV, TB, epilepsy and mental illness are all affected by patent barriers, which make the finalising of patent law reform all the more urgent.”

“Luckily, it seems that the Dti has woken up to the fact that it’s time to put people’s health over pharmaceutical corporations profits. The cancer report indicates just how urgent this is, which is why we want to show our support for this draft policy. This is South Africa’s opportunity to be a global role model in this area and we are ready to push parliament next year to make this a reality,” said Salomé Meyer of the Cancer Alliance.

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October 27, 2017
Thato Mahlangu 3 minutes read

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