When a few months of treatment costs as much as a house, some patients are taking their lives and the law into their own hands to survive.
Think paying your medical aid premiums every month ensures you access to the drugs you need when you get sick? Think again.
New United Nations report calls for drug companies to spill closely held secrets and patent reforms.
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/ 12 November 2015
A TB patient finally gets a disability grant and a woman has free access to the world’s most expensive drug.
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/ 3 December 2014
The department of trade and industry has yet to finalise patent reforms, raising questions that cheaper medication could be blocked intentionally.
There is widespread support for drastic change to patent laws when it comes to pharmaceuticals, but the results could be disastrous.
Global pharma companies are looking to sell off their mature drugs, which are often sold in emerging markets where governments demand low prices.
The intellectual property policy, which will allow access to cheaper drugs, has yet to be finalised while patients are dying, say health activists.
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/ 11 October 2013
The country is fighting the intellectual property laws that hiked up the cost of its HIV programme.
A generic version of a key cancer drug is now available in South Africa, but at a significantly higher cost than it is available internationally.
India’s Supreme Court has rejected a patent bid by Novartis in a ruling that will protect access to generics and save lives in developing countries.
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/ 20 September 2011
Reports say Samsung will file lawsuits to try to block the sale of Apple’s iPhone 5 as part of its global legal tussle with the US technology giant.