The Fix the Patent Law (FTPL) campaign will take to the streets on Thursday to picket at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) to pressure the department to fix South Africa’s patent law to accelerate access to medicines.
The FTPL campaign is represented by the Cancer Alliance, Médecins Sans Frontières, the People’s Health Movement, SECTION27 and the Treatment Action Campaign.
The picket will start at 10am, in Sunnyside, in Pretoria and FTPL has assured that Covid-19 protocols will be observed.
The movement wants the DTIC to temporarily stop granting patents on Covid-19-related products as they are proven effective and to make the licensing of Covid-19-related health products with existing or pending patents automatically compulsory.
The campaign argues that South Africa has an outdated patent law system that acts as barrier to access to medicines, which is a component of the right to access to healthcare.
“Covid-19 has spurred a global health crisis that disproportionately affects working-class and poor people. Patents, and other intellectual property instruments, can act as obstacles to accessing lifesaving medicines and other technology because they protect manufacturers from competition, keep prices of medicines high, and contribute to artificial scarcity,” the campaign explained.
Sustained patent reform is necessary to improve access to medicines, not only during the Covid-19 pandemic, but also for HIV, tuberculosis and cancer, the FTPL added.