Unless timely action is taken, South Africa could be faced with a new form of “pharmaceutical apartheid,” like that experienced in the early days of the Aids response, write Professors Yousuf Vawda & Brook K Baker
But the need for finalisation of legislation is now even more urgent given the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and the expected rush to the patent office for monopolies on new and repurposed medicines, diagnostics, medical devices, and other vital health products, including personal protective equipment.
The Fix the Patent Laws Campaign, by now a coalition of over 40 patient and advocacy groups, was launched in 2011 by the Treatment Action Campaign, Section27, and Doctors Without Borders to advocate for such reforms, all lawfully permitted under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights .
The Covid-19 pandemic has inspired an unprecedented global effort to research, develop, and obtain regulatory approval for vitally-needed diagnostic tests, medicines, vaccines, medical devices and other health products. This system of examination on mere formalities results in an unending stream of secondary, “evergreening” patents on new uses, formulations, dosages, variations, and combinations of known medicines which lengthen the monopolies on them without adding significant therapeutic benefits.
This is an emergency. Not only must South Africa immediately release its draft legislation to amend the Patents Act No 57 of 1978, but it must also adopt and enforce a short time frame for comment and deliberation. Parliament should adopt emergency legislation patterned on that proposed in its Brics partner, Brazil, that would grant automatic compulsory licenses on Covid-19-related medicines and medical products so that the country can immediately secure alternative and cheaper sources of supply, including by mobilising its own domestic manufacturing capacity.
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