[Pharm-policy] SA trade unions support TAC, sort of

[James Love]

http://www.news24.co.za/News24/Health/Aids_Focus/0,1113,2-14-659_931305,00.html

 25/10/2000 20:32 - (SA)

 Cosatu supports TAC drug import

 Johannesburg - The Congress of SA
 Trade Unions on Wednesday said it
 supported the Treatment Action Campaign's importation of generic
 medication to treat HIV/Aids, provided such importation was legal. 

 TAC leader Zachie Achmat last week announced that he had illegally
 imported a generic version of Fluconazole from Thailand at a fraction
of
 the cost of the original. 

 He said this was part of TAC's defiance campaign against "patent
 abuse and Aids profiteering" by multinational pharmaceutical
 companies. 

 Achmat also presented the Department of Health with 3 000 tablets of
 the generic drug in the hope that it would be registered for
 distribution. 

 Addressing the media in Johannesburg, Cosatu secretary general
 Zwelinzima Vavi said the trade union federation's executive committee
 met on Tuesday for the first time after its seventh national congress
in
 September and discussed a number of issues, including the TAC's
 defiance campaign. 

 He said the committee expressed its sympathy and support for a
 campaign that would force pharmaceutical companies to drop drug
 prices. 

 "It also reaffirmed its support for legislation initiated by the
government
 to ensure parallel importation of [generic] drugs and enable compulsory
 licensing - the Medicines and Related Substance Control Amendment
 Act passed in 1997," Vavi said. 

 He said the legislation's passage into law had been frustrated by a
 Constitutional Court case brought by pharmaceutical companies, who
 claimed the act was unconstitutional. 

 "As a result it has not been implemented, to the detriment of the
 health of many South Africans, including those who are living with
 HIV/Aids," said Vavi. 

 He said Fluconazole was an example of instances where drug
 producers, in this case Pfizer, charged far more than generic versions
 cost. 

 Vavi said the drug treated yeast infections that could kill Aids
patients
 by causing thrush and cryptococcal meningitis. 

 "We cannot allow pharmaceutical companies to continue to profit at
 the expense of the health, indeed the lives, of the majority of our
 people," Vavi said. 

 He said Cosatu reiterated its call to Pfizer to reduce the high price
 charged for Fluconazole. 

 The union also urged Pfizer and the government to make public their
 negotiations on the price of Fluconazole. 

 He said Cosatu endorsed pressure the TAC had put on the Medicines
 Control Council to test and certify the 3 000 generic capsules imported
 by Achmat. 

 "Cosatu, however, supports the rule of law and cannot support the
 illegal importation of generic medicines by any institution, including
the
 TAC," he said. 

 He said if the Constitutional Court and Medicines Control Council
failed
 to resolve the matter, the time would come when Cosatu would be
 faced with the problem of whether or not to uphold the rule of law in
 order to save human lives. - Sapa
-- 
James Love  <love@cptech.org>  http://www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology, P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 200036
voice 1.202.387.8030 fax 1.202.234.5176