Campaigning for pro-public health reform of South Africa’s Patents Act
A Treatment Action Campaign briefing document Background The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (“the TRIPS agreement”), effective from 1 January 1995, set standards of intellectual property protection that member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are required ...
We need the Patent Pool to work
A Joint Statement by Treatment Action Campaign, Treatment Action Group, HIV i-Base, European AIDS Treatment Group and SECTION27 17 November 2011 The exorbitant price of AIDS medicines, especially antiretrovirals, has been one of the main barriers to people with HIV accessing them, especially in d...
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) calls on government to amend South Africa’s Patents Act and protect our right to health
Press release 16 November 2011 (Cape Town) – Ten years ago this week, member countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) signed the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (“the Doha Declaration”). Members were gathered in Doha to discuss valid concerns that an international agre...
Proposed Economic Partnership agreement with the EU raises concerns about access to medicines
After stalling for some time, negotiations for an economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) on the one hand and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), Mozambique and Angola on the other have recently restarted. According to an article published in Business Day on 10...
TAC, SECTION27 and MSF South Africa call on the EU and India to stop the threats to people’s lives
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 sust...
Letter to the High Commissioner for India to South Africa
During the 1990s and early 2000s generic competition drove down the prices of ARVs. Without these massive price reductions, nearly a million additional people would be dead or dying now in South Africa. In 2005 many generic producing countries, including India, became TRIPS compliant. This means ...