Fix the Patent Laws

In the early 2000s TAC was part of a remarkably effective movement to radically reduce the prices of key HIV treatments. This led to a 96% price drop of 1st line ARVs, achieved through the introduction of generic competition. These changes were largely the result of individual cases of litigation or complaints to the Competition Commission. 

However, today, new generation antiretrovirals and long acting injectables, as well as new medicines to treat cryptococcal meningitis, hepatitis C, drug-resistant TB, and many cancers are unaffordable and out of reach for large numbers of people. We can’t rely on these individual cases of litigation to ensure access to newer medicines. Instead we need a more systematic use of legal safeguards (TRIPS flexibilities) available in international law to improve access to medicines more broadly. While many other countries have used these pro-public health measures, South Africa has yet to amend its patent laws to incorporate them.

In order to put pressure on government to reform our laws, TAC, SECTION27, and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) launched the Fix the Patent Laws (FTPL) campaign in November 2011 (on the 10-year anniversary of the Doha Declaration). After nine years of policy development, two different draft policies and various rounds of public consultation, we now finally had an agreed-upon government policy that could guide much-needed law reform. While the finalisation and adoption of a policy was an important milestone, the hard work of developing and passing legislative amendments is still outstanding.