New laws needed now to save lives
Intellectual property policy welcomed after nine years of development JOHANNESBURG, 31 MAY 2018 – Yesterday, after nine years of development, the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) finally published the Intellectual Property Policy of the Republic of South Africa, Phase I. The policy has ...
Patient groups march for access to medicines in South Africa
Draft policy must urgently be finalised and laws must be amended to save lives 24 October 2017 – Pretoria – Today, more than 1,000 members of the Fix the Patent Laws Coalition (FTPL) will march to the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) in support of the government’s efforts to fix our pate...
Coalition welcomes release of Draft Intellectual Property Policy
JOHANNESBURG, 14th AUGUST 2017 – On 8 August 2017, the Department of Trade and Industry published the Draft Intellectual Property Policy of the Republic of South Africa, Phase I, 2017. The Fix the Patent Laws Campaign (FTPL) welcomes its publication for public comment. The FTPL, a coalition of 34...
Coalition welcomes landmark Competition Commission probe into prices of cancer medicines
JOHANNESBURG, 13 JUNE 2017: The Fix the Patent Laws coalition welcomes the Competition Commission’s announcement earlier today that they will investigate the pricing of several cancer medicines in South Africa. This is a major victory in our struggle to ensure that all people in South Africa can ...
Tobeka Daki Campaign issue statement to Human Rights Council
This letter was issued by the Tobeka Daki Campaign for Access to Trastuzumab to the Human Rights Council today - on International Women's Day - as they convene a panel discussion on access to medicines in the context of the right to health. The letter can be accessed here.
Will the 2017 budget address the health system crisis?
JOHANNESBURG, WEDNESDAY 1st MARCH: South Africa is facing an ongoing crisis in the public healthcare system. The 2015 General Household Survey indicated that seven in every ten households use public clinics and hospitals. However, when they access these facilities they are faced with dysfunction....
GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST ROCHE’S INHUMANITY #RocheGreedKills
ACTIVISTS AROUND THE WORLD MARCH #ForTobeka – Demonstrations held at Roche & pharma associations in South Africa, Malaysia, UK, France, Zambia, Brazil, US (further campaign activity in India, Russia, Ukraine, Morocco, Zimbabwe) – 108 organisations endorse a letter to Roche (*signed version collec...
In loving memory of comrade Tobeka
It is with great sadness that the Fix the Patent Laws (FTPL) coalition shares news of Tobeka Daki’s death. Tobeka, was a single mother from Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape, a daughter, a friend, a woman living with HER2 positive breast cancer, a support group member and an advocate for equal and af...
No more delays Minister Davies – we need medicines
– 1000 activists march to DTI to demand urgent reform of outdated patent laws – Fix the Patent Laws campaign now comprises of 31 patient groups – New medicine report shows how patents stop people accessing nine important medicines 27 September 2016 – PRETORIA: Today, more than 1000 activists from...
UN report strengthens case for patent law reform in SA and other developing countries
– We urge all governments to urgently adopt and act on UN recommendations to safeguard right to health. – South Africa must show the way by leading developing countries, especially the BRICS, the SADC and the AU, in adopting and building on the recommendations JOHANNESBURG, 14th SEP...
New IP consultative framework for SA: three years’ delay is three too many
JOHANNESBURG, 2nd AUGUST 2016: Cabinet recently approved a new Intellectual Property (IP) Consultative Framework for South Africa. This follows a Draft National IP Policy published for comment in 2013 – on which we and many other groups commented.[1] The 2013 Draft National IP Policy committed to...
Roche: Stop Booby Trapping Access to Medicines!
WEDNESDAY 19th JULY 2016, DURBAN: Women from across the world today stormed the corporate stall of multinational pharmaceutical company Roche at the AIDS 2016 conference in Durban. The activists demanded Roche urgently drop the price of a vital breast cancer treatment. The women showered the comp...