We are not fooled: Global health activists confront pharmaceutical industry over excessive medicine prices On 1st April 2016, activists across the world are protesting against the greed that blocks access to essential medicines. April Fools’ Day is an appropriate day to highlight both the extortionate price of medicines and the lack of transparency around research […]
Read MoreDON’T TRADE AWAY OUR HEALTH – PHARMA ATTEMPTS TO UNDERMINE SOUTH AFRICAN PATENT LAW REFORM & ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE MEDICINES Johannesburg/New York, August 13, 2015: A submission to the United States Government shows South Africa is facing pressure from the pharmaceutical industry to backtrack on intellectual property (IP) law reform that aims to improve access […]
Read More27 May 2014: Last week the Treatment Action Campaign’s (TAC) partner SECTION27 closely monitored the court hearing of the case between Netcare, KPMG and the Competition Commission (CC) in the South Gauteng High Court. SECTION27 produced a series of reports on the hearing available below. Ostensibly Netcare’s case concerns its objection to the Competition Commission’s […]
Read MoreThe Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) thanks the 10 political parties who responded to the 11 questions in our People’s Health Manifesto. These responses have been collated in a document that can be downloaded here. We encourage voters to engage with these unfiltered responses from political parties. Below we provide the TAC’s analysis of these responses. We […]
Read MoreMembers of MSF-SA, TAC, Section 27 and He-Tic will picket at the Consulate General of India this Wednesday, 8th February to voice their concerns about the anti-public health policies being pushed on India by the European Union as part of a free trade agreement being discussed at the upcoming EU-India Summit in New Delhi on […]
Read MoreThe Treatment Action Campaign and SECTION27 have written a letter to the High Commissioner for India in South Africa requesting a meeting prior to the EU-India Summit which be held on 10 February 2012. The two organisations want to discuss provisions for the scale up of intellectual property, pushed by the European Union, in the […]
Read MoreA 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 developing countries. As activist organisations we have been at the forefront […]
Read More6 September 2011 The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) supports the Union of India, Cancer Patients Aid Association & others in the case brought against them by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis in relation to the interpretation of Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act. A ruling in favour of Novartis will have devastating consequences for […]
Read MoreAfter 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 February 2011, Xavier Carim – Deputy Director-General for […]
Read MoreThe 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 sustainable supply of affordable medicines to millions of people in the […]
Read MoreDuring 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 that medicines developed since 1995 cannot as easily be […]
Read MoreGlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical developers, and Aspen Pharmacare, South Africa’s largest generic pharmaceutical manufacturer, intend to merge their South African operations. As part of the merger, most of GSK’s South African operations will become part of Aspen. GSK will purchase 16% of Aspen’s shares and become the company’s single-largest shareholder. Following […]
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