JAN HENNOP, Johannesburg | Friday
THE world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, who were given a bloody nose in the Pretoria High Court this week, say they have become scapegoats for the South African government’s own inability to treat people living with HIV/Aids.
Mirryena Deeb, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PMA), accused the government of a lack of commitment to treating Aids sufferers, and blaming its shortcomings on the pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The PMA and 39 drug firms – among them Boehringer-Ingelheim, Glaxo Wellcome and Merck and Roche – are challenging the constitutionality of a law that will allow the South African government to import and produce cheaper drugs.
The cost of Aids drugs will take centre stage in the case as the court has decided to allow activists to make a submission on the plight of those living with the disease who lack access to affordable treatment.
“When people are angry and dying out there, the government mustn’t accuse us of the cause of the delay in the treatment of people,” said Deeb. “It is they who are showing a lack of commitment. At the moment, we feel the whole issue has become a bit of a red herring.
Deeb said the government had first used the high price of anti-retrovirals as an excuse not to give the drugs to patients in state hospitals, then later still claimed that the drugs could be toxic and unsafe.
President Thabo Mbeki – who this week said the question of cheap medicine was “central” to his government’s policies – also set back treatment programmes by questioning the link between HIV and Aids, she said.
Deeb said Mbeki’s government already had access to world-best prices on various drugs, including Aids medication. Furthermore, several companies had made offers of free or cheap drugs to the government.
But, Deeb said, it chose rather to make a “bad law” – the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act of 1997 which derogated pharmaceutical companies’ patent rights.
Government denied Deeb’s allegations that it was dragging its feet on treatment for people living with HIV/Aids, saying it was in constant negotiations with companies to procure cheaper drugs for those affected.
Health ministry spokesman Sibani Mngidi gave as an example the deal between pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer and the government which saw the first batch of free anti-fungal medication arrive in the country this week.
Pfizer is not among the companies contesting the South African law in the High Court. – AFP
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